Digital
by Senashenta
Summary: Takeru and Ken wake up once again sporting pointed ears... and is that Ruki, in the distance? Their version of Tokyo is slowly being swallowed up in a patchwork of the other dimensions, and this time Saruman is after the dark seed inside Ken as well! (Sequel to 'Company'.)
1. Chapter 2: Kaeri

**Rating:** PG - PG-13

**Warnings:** [violence] [language] [het] [shounen-ai]

**Pairings:** Takeru/Ken, Ruki/Legolas, Daisuke/Juri, Lee/Takato, Ryo/Hikari & Iori/Shiuchon

**Notes:** Just FYI: Chapters won't be coming out every day, but I'll try to get them out at least semi-regularly. ^-^

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Disclaimer: And still? I don't own Digimon 02 or Tamers, and I don't own Lord Of The Rings.   


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Digital

Chapter Two: Kaeri (Return)  


"Okay, so what the hell is going on?" 

Takeru and Ken both looked up at Daisuke's voice; the other boy stood a few feet away, hands on his hips and an annoyed expression on his face. When they didn't immediately respond to his question, he sighed and flopped onto the park bench next to Ken, resting his arms on the back. Takeru watched from where he was leaning on the side of the slide. He had expected Daisuke to be more upset when he and Ken didn't tell him what the problem was... but they intended to wait for the others to arrive before saying anything. 

"Um, Ken?" 

"Yes?" Ken glanced to the side at Daisuke. 

The redhead regarded him with a questioning look. "So... what's up with the hat?" 

"Huh?" The bluenette's hand went to his head. "Oh yeah. Um... nothing. I just felt like wearing it, that's all." 

"O-o-o-kay." Daisuke's eyes went to Takeru. "And you?" 

Takeru shrugged. "I can't wear one of my old hats anymore?" 

"I thought you'd outgrown them." 

"I had." 

"So-?" 

"Things change." 

"Um, 'kay." And after a long silence, during which Ken and Takeru simply stared into space and thought, Daisuke heaved a violent sigh and slammed his hands onto the bench seat. "Damn it! You call me on the D-Terminal, tell me that there's an emergency and that I have to meet you here, and then when I get here you don't say a fucking thing? What the hell?!" 

"Calm, Dai." Ken rested a hand on his friend's shoulder. "We have to wait for everyone else." 

"Shit." 

Takeru looked at Daisuke, leveling a flat gaze on him. "Daisuke, when you were walking here, did you see anyone else?" 

"Huh?" Daisuke frowned, adjusting his goggles. "No." 

"No one at all?" 

"No." He repeated. "Why?" 

"Neither did we..." 

"What?" 

The blonde ignored him in favor of worried thinking; Ken was doing much the same. The problem -- that was making them both very concerned- was just what Takeru had said to Daisuke. After getting dressed and heading out to meet the other Chosen Children, they had walked through a lot of neighborhoods to reach the park. And they had seen no one on the way. 

Granted, it was relatively early in the morning, but it _was_ a weekday. 

There should have been people out on the streets, going to work or setting up shop for the day. 

Someone. 

__

Anyone. 

No one. 

There had been no one. 

__

So where the bloody hell IS everyone?! I mean, shit! There's NO ONE... Tokyo's a damned Ghost Town. 

Not a soul in the streets? 

__

Not a good sign. 

Besides that, there was something odd... Takeru could feel it. Something in the air that had his skin on the verge of crawling. Thinking about the deserted city almost made him break out into goose bumps. He was sure that Ken was feeling the same way... although... the feeling was much akin to that he had felt when in the presence of the One Ring in Middle Earth, and the bluenette had never had the same reaction to the Ring as he had. 

On the contrary, Ken's reaction had been- 

__

Frightening to say the least. I NEVER want to see that gleam in his eyes again. 

"Hey!" 

A blink and Takeru looked up as the other Chosen Children -- those they had been able to contact, at least -- presented themselves at the edge of the playground. Taichi waved, but the normally lighthearted elder of the Chosen didn't have his usual grin on his face. The others were looking particularly grim as well. It seemed that Daisuke was the only one that hadn't noticed the oddities in the empty city. 

__

It figures. 

"I tried to get a hold of Yamato," Taichi said, crossing his arms, "but I couldn't reach him." 

"Hm." Iori agreed with a nod, "I couldn't contact Koushirou on the D-Terminal either." 

Iori had grown a lot since the Digital World adventures, it was obvious; he had been eight or so at the time, and was sixteen now. While still quiet and contemplative, he had outgrown his shyness about the same time as his first _real_ growth spurt. He now towered over his previous height, rivaling Taichi's five-feet-nine-inches. Though that wasn't _terribly_ tall, it was about the norm for the male Chosen Children. With the exception of Jou, that is, who's last growing phase had put him well over the six foot mark. 

"The Terminals seem to be working," Miyako observed, pushing her glasses up on her nose and brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear, "or we wouldn't be here, ne? So..." 

"Maybe the fact that we can't reach them has something to do with the fact that there's _no one_ in Tokyo right now." Hikari suggested.

"I agree." Takeru looked toward Hikari. The girl was frowning, concern evident in her features. "In fact, I'm fairly sure that's part of what the problem is. That," he pressed his lips together, "or the D-Terminals aren't functioning because they're all farther away than you guys were when we tried to mail you." 

"I guess it's possible." 

"Maybe." 

"Sure." 

"Yeah." 

"Jeez." Miyako's hands went to her hips. "You mind telling us just what's going on?" 

"Finally!" Daisuke threw his own hands into the air, rolling his eyes skyward in exasperation at Miyako's demanding question. "I _tried_ to ask them when I _got here_, but Ken wouldn't tell me and Takeru just mumbled something about his hats!" 

"Um, hats?" 

"Yeah, what's with the hats, anyway?" 

Ken sighed. "It's a long story." 

"Really?" Taichi gave them a half hazard grin. "Well since practically the whole city's _gone_, we have lots of time." With that, he flopped onto the ground and crossed his legs, propping himself into a 'listening' position. "Please, entertain me." 

Takeru almost scowled. _Gee, how did I guess about this happening?_

"Well?" 

"Takeru?" Ken glanced at him. 

"Huh? Why _me_?" 

"Well, I just thought-" 

The blonde heaved a sigh and nodded. "Fine." A pause. "I guess it all started the day that me and Ken vanished from the face of the Earth." 

"Whoa!" Daisuke exclaimed; "you mean you're actually going to _tell_ us what happened when you two fucking disappeared for six months?! You wouldn't even say _squat_ about it! What the hell changes things now?" 

"Ladies and gentlemen," Ken muttered, "we may have a crisis on our hands." 

"A crisis? Is that why-?" 

"Look, do you want to hear this or not?" 

"Yeah, of course." 

"Sorry, sorry." 

"I'll be quiet." 

"Please, continue." 

Takeru rubbed a temple. His head was beginning to ache… and he waited until everyone was settled into a relatively comfortable position; Ken and Daisuke still on the bench, Taichi seated on the ground beside them. Miyako perched on the edge of the bench next to Dai, Hikari standing beside her. Iori considered before going to lean against another piece of playground equipment, opposite Takeru. 

"So we'll begin with Middle Earth-" 

"Middle Earth?" 

"Is that a movie?" 

"Nah! I think it's a video game-" 

"Really? I've never heard of it before, where'd you-" 

"_Guys_!" Takeru's temper flared and he shouted at Daisuke and Miyako, who's rambling wasn't allowing him to continue his story. "Do you fucking _mind_?!" 

"Jeez, sorry." 

"Man, you're so tense." 

"This is important." Ken told them sternly, "please pay attention and don't interrupt." 

Daisuke and Miyako both sat back, silently brooding. The two both had tempers that were hard to describe, and neither of them was particularly pleased to have their talk cut short. But that Takeru and Ken had to tell them _was_ very important, and things may have been more complicated than any of the other Chosen Children could have imagined. 

The Child of Hope massaged the bridge of his nose, eyes closed as he took several deep, calming breaths. "Alright," he managed finally. "Middle Earth." Another long pause, and the others waited for him to continue. "Middle Earth is another dimension; much like the World Of Wishes or the Dark Ocean dimension. From what we could tell, Middle Earth is an in-between of our world and the Digital World. A combination. Some creatures there were digimon, and some weren't." 

"Is that possible?" 

"Evidently." Ken nodded to Hikari's question. 

"That," Takeru glanced around, gaging their reactions. "Is where Ken and I -- as well as Patamon and Wormmon -- were all that time a year ago." 

"In Middle Earth?" 

"How the hell did you get there?" This was from Daisuke, who was staring at them in disbelief. "Like another break in dimensions? The same way we got into the World Of Wishes or something?" 

A shrug. "We're not exactly sure, actually. We just _woke up_ there one day and couldn't get home." 

"That sucks." 

"Totally." 

"Guys!" 

"Sorry." 

"Anyway," Ken said, looking at Takeru (who seemed ready to snap at any moment) and taking it upon himself to continue the tale. "Long story short, we got stuck there and, in the process of trying to find a way home, got sucked into a journey that -- at least at first -- seemed like something out of a fantasy novel." 

"Um, huh?" 

The bluenette smiled softly, "Takeru, our digimon and I, as well as several others, set out across the land of Middle Earth. Our purpose was to destroy a ring. The One Ring, they called it; something of magnificent and _evil_ power. And so we were to be rid of it." 

"And you two went _why_" 

Takeru raised an eyebrow. "Ken volunteered us." 

"He _what_?" 

"Yes, well," Ken chuckled nervously and then addressed Takeru; "I told you before. There was _something_ about Frodo and the others-" 

"-I know, I know." 

"Frodo?" 

"Shit, will you two _please_ stop talking about things we don't know about?" 

"You know Daisuke," Takeru shot a look at the redhead. "If _you_ would be quiet we could get through this story and to the point." 

"Thanks a lot, Takaishi." 

"No problem, Motomiya." Shaking his head, Takeru wrinkled his nose. "In any case, the time we were missing was spent traveling with the Fellowship-" and before anyone could interrupt to ask about _that_; "-the others who took on the task of destroying the One Ring, and right until the end we were with them." 

"What happened?" 

"Did you manage to get rid of the Ring thingy?" 

"We don't know." Ken admitted. "We got dragged back right in the middle of... well, a pretty bad battle. We don't even know if the others made it out alive. I mean, we _hope_ they did, but we can't be sure. They were out _friends_, too." 

A long silence. 

__

We can hope, though... Takeru shook his head. "Now, Ken and I think that the – problems -- with Tokyo may have something to do with Middle Earth and what we went through a year ago. We thought you all should know what happened." 

"But," Taichi frowned, "what makes you think that Tokyo has anything to do with this Middle Earth?" 

Both Takeru and Ken hesitated. They knew that the only way to explain their assumptions was to show off their re-acquired Elf ears, but they still weren't sure that it was such a good idea... but what to tell the other Chosen? That they'd had a collective psychic vision about it? No, probably not a good idea... 

"There are... reasons..." 

"Like what?" 

"A feeling." Ken responded. "It's hard to describe." 

"Try." 

"...a kind of overwhelming dread. The same kind that everyone felt in the presence of the Ring when we were journeying..." 

Takeru tuned out the rest, not needing to hear it, and looked around. The other Chosen Children were listening to Ken's description intently; Taichi was frowning, worried. His 'leader' persona would soon come out, Takeru was sure. Daisuke and Miyako were both still looking somewhat disbelieving. Iori was thoughtful as always, his expression neutral as he contemplated what he was being told. Hikari, of all the Chosen, was taking the story the most seriously. As Ken explained the feeling of the One Ring she began to almost-shiver; Hikari had always had a slight touch of empathy, the ability to feel pain or other extreme emotions from others, and it seemed that her 'gift' was working overtime. 

Takeru was surprised, really, by how well they were all taking their bizarre explanation. He and Ken had both expected them to think they were completely insane, which was the reason they hadn't told anyone about Middle Earth earlier. Of course, they should have known better after their friends adventures in the Digital World... 

__

I have to wonder how the other digimon took it if and when Patamon and Wormmon told THEM. 

...and the feeling that Ken was currently describing made Takeru's stomach clench. The feelings were very familiar... almost... almost like what he had been feeling since walking through the deserted Tokyo streets earlier... 

"Ken..." 

His voice was very soft and no one really noticed. 

"Ken-" 

Hikari looked up, noticing his attempt to interrupt. 

The odd feeling was stronger now, and very familiar... 

"Ken-!" 

Almost like... 

__

Oh please, no! Are you kidding me? This is TOKYO for God's sake! 

Almost like... 

__

We can't do this! Not here, not now! 

The feeling was almost like... 

Almost like... 

__

When we first fought the Orcs! Orcs? Orcs! The realization made him practically catapult from the side of the slide, even as the tightening in his chest became more than he could bear and his over-sensitive ears picked up something that no Human ears could have possibly noticed. "Ken!" 

The bluenette looked up sharply when Takeru shoved away from the slide. "Takeru-?" 

"Ken, listen!" 

"Wha-?" 

"_Listen_!" 

"But-" at Takeru's desperate look, his mouth snapped shut and he concentrated, straining his ears. After a long moment, his eyes widened and he stood up quickly. "Takeru, that's not-!" He shook his head, panicked, "it can't be-!" 

"But it sounds like-" 

"I _know_, but it _can't_ be-" 

"Hey!" Daisuke interrupted, standing after Ken. "What's going on? What can't it be?" 

Takeru shook his head, not bothering to answer Daisuke's questions. "No time, Dai! We have to get out of here!" 

"But _why_-?" 

"Just go!" 

"But-" 

"Go! Now!" 

More of the frustrating hesitation. 

"_Damn it, would you all just fucking run_?!" 

__

Thwack! 

An arrow slammed into the dirt at Daisuke's feet, making the redhead jump back. His eyes widened considerably and his mouth dropped open in shock. Seeming unable to speak, he simply looked back over Takeru's shoulder in the direction the arrow had come from. 

"Shit! Too late!" Takeru whirled to face what he knew was there. "Fuck!" 

The Orcs that he had expected were there... a whole horde of them... tittering... arrows and swords ready... teeth bared... they were advancing... both Takeru and Ken remembered this very well. The Orcs were the same. How had they gotten there-?! It didn't matter. None of it did. What mattered was that they were almost upon the Chosen Children, and those same Chosen had nothing to defend themselves with. 

At least in Middle Earth there had been weapons... 

"Takeru, come on! We have to go!" 

"Yeah! Shit. Shit! Go! _Go_!" Spinning, the Child of Hope started forward. "_Go_-!" 

Taichi had managed to scramble up and was already backing away, though not quickly enough; Miyako had leaped to her feet from the bench and was following the Child of Courage away from the oncoming Orcs; the horror on Hikari's face was echoed by Ken, who was tugging at Daisuke. And Daisuke seemed to be frozen, staring blankly at the arrow that was imbedded in the ground at his feet. 

"Come on!" Iori grabbed Daisuke's arm on the way past and physically dragged the older boy from where he was standing. "Don't just stand there! Let's go!" 

"Iori!" 

Reaching Ken, Takeru paused for a split second. "Ken, we have to-" 

"Takeru-!" 

"Wh-" the blonde broke off when a hand grasped his arm and yanked him backward. "Ah!" 

"Takeru!" 

Struggling desperately, Takeru turned his head to look at his captor- and wished he hadn't. The sneer on the face of the Orc that held him was garish to say the least. It was amazing how time seemed to slow down when danger was imminent... 

__

How the HELL did they get so close without me knowing? 

He already knew the answer. He had been so concerned with the other Chosen that he hadn't paid enough attention to the Orc horde. 

__

I'm so screwed! Shit! 

"Takeru!" Ken shrieked, unable to do anything; "oh God-! Takeru!" 

The Orc's grip on his arm tightened, and the creature drew back an arm, raising the crude almost-sword high. The blonde's terrified breath caught in his throat and his struggling continued. The hat he was wearing fell from his head with his fighting and he ignored it... _I can't go out like this! Are you kidding? I made it through the Orcs before... the Balrog... no!_

The sword swung down, and- 

"Fox Leaf Arrowhead!" 

A blinding flash of light and the Orc released him with a scream. Landing on the ground with a muffled thump that forced the air from his lungs, Takeru rolled out of the way and began to scramble to his feet. "What was that-?!" 

"Well," a voice told him as a hand reached down to haul him up. "I guess you owe us another one now." 

"Wha-?" 

Ruki smirked and turned to her digimon; "Renamon! Again! Make them run with their tails between their legs!" 

"Of course." The fox-digimon nodded and leapt into the air again, delivering another _bright_ attack; "_Fox Leaf Arrowhead_!" 

-the light drove the Orcs back. 

"Now," Ruki told him flatly. "I suggest we run before they can regroup." 

"Good call." Turning quickly, Takeru looked for the others. They were still standing only a few yards away, gaping. "Go! What the hell are you waiting for? _run_, damn it!" 

"But-" Daisuke said stupidly, continuing to stare at Takeru and Ruki even as the others turned to flee. His eyes went from the now-hatless blonde to the red-haired Tamer and back again. "Who the hell is this? And what the _flying fuck _happened to your ears?!"   


~*~*~*~*~*~

Me: Ah! Sorry it took so long for this chapter to come out, but I got sidetracked. 

Takeru: You said that in your intro notes. 

Me: I know, but I felt the need to apologize again. *bows* Gomen nasai! 

Takeru: Well, now that we're _right in the middle of a bigass fight_ you _can't_ leave us hanging forever, _right_?! 

Me: Heh, heh.... *sweatdrops* I DO plan on working on this more now. I got inspired again, so... 

Ken: *curiously* By what? 

Me: I was chatting with one of my brother's friends and got to talking about Legolas- 

Ken: I... see... 

Me: Don't ask...^.^;; 


	2. Chapter 3: Tsudoi

**Rating:** PG - PG-13

**Warnings:** [violence] [language] [het] [shounen-ai]

**Pairings:** Takeru/Ken, Ruki/Legolas, Daisuke/Juri, Lee/Takato, Ryo/Hikari & Iori/Shuichon

**Notes:** Wow... there's like, no notes at the beginning of this chapter. Huh. I'm just in shock here. How did this happen? I guess... okay, I really don't know how it happened. Anyway, sorry again that it's taken me so long to get back into "Digital". You all forgive me, right?

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Disclaimer: Much as I can wish, I just don't own Digimon or Lord Of The Rings. Shimatta, ne? 

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Digital

Chapter Three: Tsudoi (Gathering)  


Running for their lives was something both Takeru and Ken had hoped to have left behind when they came back from Middle Earth. Unfortunately things hadn't worked out quite the way the two of them had wished... running from Orcs was bad enough in Middle Earth when they were trying to destroy the Ring, but in the middle of Tokyo City? 

And what was Ruki doing there? 

That was something that no one could hope to explain... yet... 

__

Where are we, anyway? Ken chanced to raise his head, dragging his eyes from the pavement to glance back over his shoulder. He was worried about Takeru and Ruki. He need not have, though, the two -- though some distance behind himself and the others -- were managing to outrun the Orcs by at least... well, by far enough to keep from being slaughtered, which was the important thing. Next to him, Daisuke and Iori were racing at top speeds; Taichi was ahead with Hikari and Miyako. And Takeru and Ruki... _How did Ruki GET here-?!_

He pushed those thoughts aside, unimportant as they were. 

__

I should be thanking Ruki and Renamon for saving Takeru. If they hadn't shown up- 

He didn't want to think about it. 

"Ken, what the hell _are_ those things?" 

The bluenette glanced at Daisuke, still running as fast as he could. "Orcs." 

"Wha-?" 

"Trust me, you don't want to know-" 

"I don't know about Dai," Iori panted, "but I _know_ that I don't want to!" 

"Good call, Iori!" 

"Where are we going-?" 

"I have no idea! Keep running!" Ken waved them on. 

Ahead, Hikari was beginning to slow. She had always been the weakest of the Chosen, physically speaking. A sickly girl, if they were honest. Of course she couldn't keep up with them like that. Ken's mind raced, trying to think of something – _anything_ -- they could do to get away from the horde behind them. 

He came up with nothing. 

No weapons, no digimon... well, they had Renamon, but still... 

Hikari tripped. 

"-shit! 'Kari!" Daisuke shouted, "Taichi! Hikari's down!" 

Her brother began to stop and turn, but Ken interrupted; "keep going, I've got her!" 

"Huh?" 

There was a general feeling of surprise. 

"You? Ken, you can't-" 

__

Oh no? Watch me. 

He reached the spot where Hikari was sprawled on the concrete and paused for only a split second; long enough to reach down, haul the girl to her feet, make sure she was alright, and then throw her over his shoulder before continuing to run. It was something no one expected from the somewhat frail boy. Of course, he was still wearing the hat that Takeru had insisted he put on, so they didn't know he had been... well, changed. 

He hadn't stopped for long. Not long, but long enough that Takeru and Ruki had nearly caught up with him. Daisuke and Iori were ahead now, along with Taichi and Miyako. There was an odd felling of deja vu as he fell into step with the other former-members of the Fellowship. The biggest difference was that in the past he hadn't had Hikari slung over his shoulder. 

"Fox Leaf Arrowhead!" 

Renamon was still behind them, attempting to keep the throng os Orcs at bay. She ran alongside her Tamer... then every minute or two she stopped long enough to deliver another 'Fox Leaf Arrowhead' attack before blurring into motion once again. 

Giving them an extra foot or two each time. 

"This _sucks_!" 

"No, really?" Ruki glared at the blonde boy who was running beside her, sarcastic as always. "I hadn't noticed." Raising her voice several notches, she called ahead for everyone to hear; "_turn left at the next corner_!" 

"Where the fuck are you taking us?" 

The girl's eyes flicked to the side at Takeru. "Trust me." 

"Trust-? _Trust_ you-?! Are you goddamn kidding me?!" 

"Takeru!" Ken snapped, "just do what she says!" 

"Um," Hikari spoke, tapping the bluenette's back. "Ken-?" 

"Not now, Hikari! Sorry, but not now!" 

Taichi hadn't bothered to question Ruki's orders, simply dashing around the corner as she'd told him to. The older Chosen's hand was locked around Miyako's wrist, dragging her with him; Daisuke and Iori followed closely behind. Takeru and Ken didn't say anything else, choosing to simply pick up their pace. The problem Ken was having was with carrying Hikari as well, not that he intended to stop to put her down at that point... 

"When we get to the corner," Ruki began, pausing halfway through her sentence to take a handful of breaths. She, like Takeru and Ken, sported the Elven ears and physique, but running full-out for so long and so far was draining even them. "...when we get _around_ the corner, _get out of the way_!" 

__

Get out of the way-? What-? 

No time! 

Ken skidded around the corner after Takeru and Ruki, still holding on to Hikari tightly. His feet slipped against the pavement and he nearly stumbled, barely managing to catch his balance before both he and the girl he was carrying slammed into ground; but he was going to fast to stop, and there was a building. Twisting, he attempted to get Hikari out of the way. If he slammed into the wall, that was fine, but he didn't want his friend to get hurt- 

"Whoa!" A hand grabbed his arm, stopping him before he could fall; "gotcha'!" 

"Uh..." Ken straightened up slowly, setting Hikari back onto her feet, and looked at the person who had 'saved' him. 

A few surprised blinks only confirmed what his eyes were telling him. 

He had _no idea _who the boy was. 

"Ken! 'Kazu, you _idiot_!" Ruki's voice screamed, "get _down_!" 

"Whoops, I pissed her off." A pause and then the boy added; "again." He winced and, not releasing Ken's arm, latched his hand onto Hikari's wrist as well and dragged both the Child of Kindness and the Child of Light down to the ground. "But in this case I'd do what she says- say, I'd cover my head if I were you." 

And with that he proceeded to take his own advice. 

Ken just stared._ Who is THIS? _

But the snarling of the Orcs was drawing nearer... 

Tucking his head down, he covered it with his arms. 

"What the hell are we doing?" Takeru's voice demanded from a few feet away, "this is fucking _ridiculous_! Are you _trying_ to get us killed? Well? Ruki? Ruki! Damn it! You know how dangerous they-" a frustrated growl; "we can't just sit and _wait_-!" 

Silently, Ken echoed Takeru's sentiments; they knew first-hand how murderous an Orc horde could be, and they were just sitting here... but then again, Ruki knew how dangerous they were as well. She must have had a plan, or she wouldn't have had them duck-and-cover. What could she possibly be planning-? 

All their questions were answered a moment later when the screeching Orcs rounded the corner after them. 

__

This is it. We're all dead. 

"Renamon! Everyone!" Ruki shouted. "_Now_!" 

__

Huh? What-? 

"_Fox Leaf Arrowhead_!" 

"_Fireball_!" 

"_Blazing Fire_!" 

__

What's going on-?! 

Still shielding his head, Ken listened as three simultaneous explosions sounded from the walls of the building just behind them. The ground shook as if an earthquake was in the process of tearing half the city down, and debris cascaded around them. Ken -- as well as everyone else -- could feel the dust and cement particles fall from the sky and litter the ground; he began to cough when the dust cloud became more than his lungs could bear. 

But... 

It was silence that followed. 

The ground stopped shaking, though the dust continued to fall. 

Silence? The sounds of the Orcs had vanished, even to Ken and Takeru's sensitive ears. 

Nothing... I wonder... 

Tentatively raising his head and at the same time lowering his arms, the bluenette glanced around himself; the others were all doing basically the same thing. "Hikari-?" He turned to look at her through the debris and diminishing dust, still concerned for her safety. "Are you alright?" 

"Uh..." a groan, followed by a tentative nod. Reaching up, Hikari rubbed her head, then shook it to get some of the dust out of her hair. A cloud puffed up at the motion and she coughed violently, then; "...yeah. I think I'm okay." 

"Good. Takeru-?" 

"I'm alive." Takeru's reply came. The blonde was in the process of climbing out of the rubble. "Holy hell, Ruki. What did you _do_?" 

"Don't question it." Ruki snapped from a few feet away. "We saved your ass. Focus on that." A pause and she called; "Renamon! You're fine, right?" 

"Hm." The digimon appeared at her side. "We _all_ are." 

__

All-? Ken blinked watering eyes, trying to rid them of grit. Whatever Ruki'd had Renamon do, it had been something big. _And who does she keep talking to? Who else is here? And who was that guy who- _he turned to look at the person who had grabbed him and Hikari before; blonde-ish hair spiked from beneath a kind of visor. "Hey-" he caught the boy's attention. "Um, thanks for that. You know, before." 

"No problem." A grin. "I'd do it for anyone... except maybe Ruki... hn. That girl's _still_ got a screw loose." 

__

So he's friends with Ruki? Another blink, then, _although maybe 'friends' is too strong a word. _

"Well shit." 

At Daisuke's muttered curse, everyone turned to look at him; he was standing -- dust covered and bleeding from a scrape on his elbow, his goggles in disarray but somehow unbroken -- and staring back the way they had come. The look of utter shock on his face was something they were used to, but somehow it was different now... Ken quickly turned, following his surprised eyes. 

The corner... the road... was _gone_. 

No, not gone, really... it was buried. 

The rubble that blocked the street off had probably buried most, if not all of the Orc horde, crushing them beneath tons of cement and steel. Cement and steel which had come, incidently, from the wall of a nearby building; half of the wall was gone... 

__

That's what Ruki had Renamon do. 

"Yeah! How's that for kicking butt-? Score one for us! Ne, Ruki... what were those, anyway?" 

Another unfamiliar voice... 

"I told you _before_, Takato! _orcs_!" 

"And those would be-?" 

Ken sighed and looked at Ruki. The girl's eyebrow was on the verge of twitching. "Ruki?" 

"What _now_?" 

"He probably wants to know who the hell they all are." Takeru spoke up, crossing his arms and glancing around; besides the boy that had helped Ken out, there was one with black hair and glasses who reminded the Chosen of Jou. Another, who was wearing a vest and had a Chinese look about him. A familiar-looking little white and green digimon was perched on his shoulder. A fourth who bore a suspicious resemblance to Taichi -- or was it Daisuke? -- right down to the goggles. Next to him stood a large red and black dinosaur-dragon-type digimon. Beside _him_ was a girl with reddish-brown hair and a shy appearance. Finally, and the only other girl there, was a younger girl -- around Iori's age -- with dark purple-red hair, which was pulled into half hazard pigtails. "So..." the Child of Hope pursed his lips. "Ruki-?" 

Ken watched her scowl at him. 

"I told you about the Tamers, right?" Her scowl became a simple glare. "So here they are. Now, I suggest we get out of here before those things figure out a way to dig themselves out of there! Get it?" 

"God! You're just as bitchy as I remember y-" 

"Takeru," Ken interrupted, "not now, okay?" 

The blonde stared at him for a moment, then nodded curtly and contented himself with grumbling under his breath. Ruki's eyes flicked to Ken in a silent and almost impossible-to-read 'thank you' and then glanced around. Taichi and Daisuke had their confused-by-the-last-run-of-events looks on their faces. Iori was frowning, thoughtful as always. Miyako's eyes were glued on one of the newcomers. Ken got the feeling that the Tamer with the white-and-green digimon was in for a good stalking in the future. Hikari was rubbing her arms as if she had a chill -- her slight empathy was working, still. 

"Let's get out of here." Takeru waved his hand and started walking. 

It was a very rare occasion when the Child of Hope took the lead and _both_ Daisuke and Taichi followed in silent bafflement. 

If the situation had been any different, Ken could have found humor in it. 

__

Because laughing isn't appropriate when we could be slaughtered any minute. 

The silence between the members of their somewhat odd group was a little unnerving. The Tamers were walking in silence, seemingly watching the Chosen intently. Why? Then again, if what Ruki had told them before was right, then they were watching TV-characters-come-real... 

__

And that HAS to be strange. 

As for the Chosen themselves, they were more focused on Takeru and Ken than anything else. All were curious about the girl who had saved Takeru -- who both the Chosen of Hope and the Chosen of Kindness seemed to know very well -- and concern was obvious in the way they moved. In some cases, paranoia was close to setting in; Miyako, at least, was looking around worriedly as they went. Possibly for Orcs. 

__

Probably for Orcs. 

Ken knew how she felt. 

Still silence. 

They walked quickly -- almost sprinting but not quite -- to put distance between themselves and the downed Orcs; whether the creatures were dead or not was still unknown, and no one wanted to take the chance that they were still alive. 

"Man!" The white-and-green digimon exclaimed finally, after they had managed to make it about six blocks from the rubble. "You'd think someone'd died! We _won_, people! Momentai already! I mean jeez!" 

"Terriermon-" his Tamer warned. 

"I'm just _saying_-" 

"Terriermon, huh?" Daisuke spoke, "Wallace's digimon was a Terriermon. Except he had Lopmon, too. You've just got him?" 

The Tamer blinked. "Yeah, but Shuichon has-" 

"Lopmon's _my_ partner!" The youngest girl told them. 

Shuichon? That must have been her name. Ken made a mental note of that and stored it alongside Ruki and Renamon. He also was fairly sure that the boy wearing goggles was Takato, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions- 

"Look," Taichi said, sighing, "we're far enough away now that we should have time to stop and make introductions, right? This is frustrating." 

Ruki looked at him flatly. "No distance is far enough when you're dealing with Orcs." 

"Too true." Ken agreed with a nod. "But when we were dealing with them before they weren't buried under a building." 

"Hn. Fine." Crossing her arms, Ruki rolled her eyes. "It's your funeral." Glancing around, she continued before anyone could respond; "Takato is the one with goggles, and that's Guilmon. Lee's the one with Terriermon, Juri's the one in the dress, Shuichon is the squirt, Kenta's got the glasses and Hirokazu-" 

"Just Kazu!" 

"-is the one who _won't stop interrupting me, damn it!_!" 

Kazu snickered to himself, then; "her royal highness there is Ruki, and then you've got Renamon." 

"Kazu..." Ruki growled. 

"Man, you're so touchy." 

"Anyway!" Takeru interrupted, one eyebrow raised, "now we know you. So I'm-" 

"Takeru Takaishi!" 

"Huh?" 

"Takeru Takaishi," Takato repeated excitedly. "Chosen Child of Hope! You're digimon is Patamon and he evolves into Angemon and then into Holy Angemon. Oh, except when you use the digimental of Hope and then he evolves into Pegusmon because-" 

He continued, rambling off all of Patamon's evolutions as the Chosen stared blankly. 

"I think I'm freaked out." Daisuke muttered. 

"-and you're Daisuke Motomiya!" 

"Shit." 

"-Taichi and Hikari Yagami, Iori Hida and Miyako Inoue! And Ken Ichijouji!" Takato finished naming them all and looked around; "I can't believe this! Ruki, you told us and I just didn't believe -- I mean, how could you have-?" 

"Breath, Takato." Lee chuckled. 

"You're overdoing it Chumly," Kazu added. "Although... it is _very_ cool." 

"Takeru, what's going on?" Hikari wondered softly. 

"Is it just me," Iori asked the other Chosen, "or are they all crazy?" 

"It's not just you." Taichi assured him. 

"Definitely not just you." Miyako shook her head. "...completely bonkers..." 

"..." Daisuke rubbed his head. "I have no idea what the hell is going on." 

"What else is new?" 

In the past, Takeru would have winced at the look he got from Daisuke. But being in Middle Earth had taught him many things, not the least of which was to stand up for himself. He simply stared right back. 

"Well?" Ken pressed his lips into a thin line; "what do we do now?" 

For a long moment, no one said anything. 

"First," Takeru spoke, heaving a sigh. "We find some place where we can all fit -- a restaurant or something -- and we _sit down_. I may be an Elf, but I'm fucking _tired_ from-" 

"What the hell?!" Daisuke demanded; "what do you mean an _Elf_?!" 

Takeru ignored him and continued; "then everyone stays there while you-" he nodded toward Ken, "-Ruki, Renamon and I go to the school. We have some things to discuss along the way, too." 

"Um, the school?" 

"What are you talking about, Takaishi?" 

"You two may not have noticed," the blonde cast a glance back down the road; "but we were royally screwed back there with no weapons." 

"-and that has to do with our school how-?" 

"We have an archery club, don't we?" 

"Yeah, but..." 

"So I doubt anyone'll mind if we borrow some equipment." 

"Are you kidding?" 

Takeru looked at Ken seriously. "I never kid about deadly weapons."   


~*~*~*~*~*~

Me: Kind of a short chapter. Sorry. 

Ken: It wasn't _that_ short, really. 

Legolas: When are _we_ going to get there? 

Me & Ken: *blink, blink* 

Me: How'd you get here? 

Legolas: I just- 

Me: You can't comment until you're in the story, damnit! Go! 

Legolas: *stares blankly* O-o-o-kay... 

Me: Go! *kicks him out* 

Takeru: Back to _the point_? 

Me: Point... um, was there a point? 

Ken: ...I don't think so... 

Me: ...neither do I...


	3. Chapter 1: Mezamesaseru

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Rating: PG - PG-13

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Warnings: [violence] [language] [het] [shounen-ai]

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Pairings: Takeru/Ken, Ruki/Legolas, Daisuke/Juri, Lee/Takato, Ryo/Hikari & Iori/Shuichon (whew! ^^;; I think that's all of them…)

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Notes: Ah, Takeru and Ken are... closer... in this than in the last. It's been a while since "Company", ne? But it's no big deal, really, still no lemony stuff of anything like that. Just kawaii scenes. ^-^ 

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Disclaimer: Minna-san? Guess what! I bet you didn't know that I _don't_ own Digimon or Lord Of The Rings! ^_~ Are ya' surprised? ... I didn't think so... hee, hee...   


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Digital

Chapter One: Mezamesaseru (Awakening)  


The sun shining through the curtains and onto his face was what woke Takeru up first. Squeezing his eyes shot against the light, he mentally cursed whoever had invented day. Then his conscience gently reminded him that _God_ was the one who had invented it, and he changed his curse to be aimed at he or she who had invented sheer curtains, instead. 

__

I should get up, anyway. 

Sighing, he opened his eyes. 

Next to him, Ken muttered something in his sleep and pulled the blankets over his head; his blue hair vanished under the quilt and Takeru chuckled to himself. Ken was not good with mornings anymore; he had been when he was younger, yes, but it was suspected that it was due to the Dark Spore being active. There were a lot of things he could do when he was younger that he couldn't do now that the damned Spore was inactive. 

Mornings were just one of many. 

Untangling himself from the other boy, Takeru climbed out of bed, careful not to disturb the bluenette. Once he was on his feet he stretched and yawned, then rubbed his eyes, trying to wake himself up; he wasn't very good with mornings, either. 

__

-and they don't get any easier as time goes on. 

With a shake of his head, he wandered over to the double-glass-balcony door -- the source of the curtain problem and also the offending light -- and squinted, his eyes twinging, before pushing the almost-curtains back. The door followed quickly, and- not caring whether he was in just his boxers or not- he stepped out onto the balcony. 

Sharing an apartment with his brother had it's advantages; Yamato, being the lead singer in his band, The Teenage Wolves, wasn't home very often. They were currently on tour in France, promoting their first hit single, "Full Moon Friendship". 

Yamato had written it himself, about both Gabumon and his Crest. 

In any case, with the Keeper of Friendship out of town most of the time, Takeru normally had the apartment to himself. Though this time, Yamato had been reluctant to leave his younger brother at home when he went away... 

...after the fiasco involving Middle Earth -- when Takeru and Ken had simply vanished for nearly six months -- no one was exactly jumping to leave _either_ of them alone for any length of time... especially since neither the Child of Hope nor the Child of Kindness had been willing to talk at length about what had happened to them. 

__

Five months later, and they still don't know. 

In truth, Takeru and Ken had agreed that it was extremely doubtful that anyone would even believe their story, should they tell it. When they had sat down with Patamon and Wormmon, shortly after being returned home, even they had found what they had been through somewhat far-fetched.

__

Somewhat? Takeru snorted to himself, _try VERY._

Leaning on the balcony outside, he peered out across Tokyo. 

He had missed Tokyo a lot when they had been in Middle Earth. The simple things that he had taken for granted up until then had suddenly seemed vital. Running water, for example. How he had _missed_ running water... 

A sigh. 

...and yes, he had been happy to get home... 

...but he still worried about those they had left behind, and he knew Ken did as well. They had been pulled back home at a very bad time, and the friends they had made while there might not have mad it after they left. 

And Ruki! 

She had vanished just before them, and as with the people from Middle Earth, they had no idea whether she had made it home or not, or if she was safe... 

__

Yeah. I didn't like her at first... but even though she was a bitch, I guess she was my friend. 

He had missed Tokyo while in Middle Earth, and now that he had been back in Tokyo for a while, he found himself missing Middle Earth... 

"Talk about irony." He snorted, muttering to himself, "I never thought I'd miss the fucking place." Then, shaking his head sadly; _I hope they're all alright..._

"Takeru?" 

"Hm?" Turning, the blonde grinned at Ken, who was leaning sleepily on the doorframe; "hey Ken." 

Ken, while he didn't exactly _live_ with Takeru, did spend a lot of time there; especially now that they were an 'official' couple. Their friends in Tokyo -- having not witnessed the events in Middle Earth -- still didn't quite understand what it was that had brought them together, but their newfound relationship had been accepted with relative ease. 

Hikari, of course, had thought it was absolutely adorable; Miyako had grumbled, but she had been crushing on Ken for as long as anyone could remember; Iori had, in his quiet way, said he thought they would be good for each other. 

And Daisuke? 

The goggled-boy had grinned from ear-to-ear and clapped them both on the back with a chuckle. 

He obviously didn't have a problem with it. 

The older Chosen Children hadn't been much different, either, though Yamato showed slight surprise. He had always thought that Takeru and Hikari would end up together, as if it was as obvious as he and Sora remaining together for so long. 

But their parents... Takeru's parents hadn't been all that upset by his choice, only, as with Yamato, surprised. His mother and father, just like his brother, had assumed he and Hikari would be together. They hadn't objected, though. 

It was Ken's parents who'd had all the objections... 

And both Takeru and Ken preferred not to think about that. 

The blonde raised an eyebrow; "sleep well?" 

Ken yawned, stretching his arms above his head, "yeah, I'm still tired, th-" he paused and blinked, "Takeru..?" 

"Hm?" Takeru blinked, "what?" 

"Your... ears..." 

"My ears?" The blonde repeated, "what about -- oh no. My ears? My _ears_!" Realization struck him, along with a horrible wave of deja vu, and his hands flew upward. Fingers encountered hair, then earlobe, curving into a small rounded point- "what the _hell_?! Ken-!" 

The bluenette blinked slowly, still half-asleep. "Last time-" 

"Shit. Shit!" Brushing past Ken (which had the effect of pushing the other boy back into the apartment), Takeru practically dove for the mirror that was mounted on the back of the bedroom door. "Well-" he said after a long minute of looking at his own reflection; "this is just fucking great." He ran a finger over his once-again-pointed right ear while his mind thought up a string of random curses that would have challenged even Daisuke's vulgar imagination. He scowled at the image before him… short blonde hair, Elven ears, his normal boxing shorts... Takeru sighed; his scowl became a frown, and then his frown disappeared as well. _I should be counting my blessings._ He thought sarcastically; _the whole time I was in Middle Earth before, I bitched about my hair. I may have the ears now, but at least my hair stayed the same._

"Takeru, what-?" 

Turning, the Child of Hope inspected his friend; Ken was wearing his normal sleeping clothes- a pair of blue pyjamas, long sleeves and pants. He didn't sleep wearing any less than would be appropriate on the street, should an emergency arise. His blue hair was mussed and his eyes were still half-cloudy from just waking up. 

"Ken, turn your head." 

"W-hat?" Ken asked. 

"Turn you- ah, never mind." Reaching again, Takeru brushed Ken's semi-long hair out of the way. Sighing at the ears that the bluenette had also re-acquired, he shook his head. "What the hell? We're not even in Middle Earth-" 

"We're Elves again, aren't we?" 

"No shit." 

Ken finally seemed to be waking up, and frowned. Stepping forward, he stood next to Takeru and peered into the mirror on the door. "Takeru-" 

"I have no idea." 

The bluenette hesitated, then; "are you _sure_ we're not in Middle Earth?" 

"Are you kidding me?" Takeru exclaimed, "what are you talking about?" 

"I mean... is there any way... could the whole _building_ have been transported, instead of just us?" 

"..." the blonde gaped, then shook his head. "I doubt it. I was just outside, and Tokyo looked like Tokyo. At least what I could see of it." 

"What should we do?" Ken asked, softly. 

After a moment Takeru walked to the closet and, opening the door, looked inside at the cloak that was hanging in the corner. "I think," he said, fingering the leaf-like clasp of the cloak; "we should contact the others." 

"-others?" 

"Daisuke and everyone." 

"If they're here?" 

"What's that supposed to mean?" 

"I'm just saying," Ken's lips compressed into a thin line, "if we're Elves, then this could be Middle Earth in some way, and-" 

"Okay, okay. I get the point." Takeru's hand went back to his side and he looked away from the cloak. "We find out if they're _here_, and then we get together with them. I didn't see a difference in Tokyo," he shook his head, repeating what he had said earlier; "but you can't see the whole city from my balcony. Okay, you could be right." 

Ken nodded silently, "I'll try the others on the D-Terminal." 

"Good plan." 

The bluenette set to work rummaging through the bag containing his personal possessions and then e-mailing everyone else via the D-Terminal; the Terminal was one of the pluses of being a Chosen Child. No one else had one of the special pocket-e-mail devices, and in the past they had worked even when computers couldn't be counted on. No one, not even Koushirou, was exactly sure how they continued to run day-in and day-out without batteries, but as long as they _kept_ working, no one particularly cared. Although, Daisuke had at one point mentioned the possibility of the Terminals leeching power from their D3's or Digivices, respectively. 

Everyone had been surprised by the amount of _logic_ behind the observation, especially coming from Daisuke... 

__

If we're going to meet up with the others, we'll have to cover these ears. 

Takeru began to rummage through the contents of the top shelf of his closet, searching for something that hadn't been seen for several years- "Ah ha!" His hands found what he was looking for and he pulled the hunks of cloth down from the shelf. _It's been a while..._

The white bucket hats were the same as they had been when he was still wearing them, if a little faded. He almost chuckled at them. Smoothing out some wrinkles, he shook his head sadly; they hadn't been worn for _years_. He'd given them up shortly after the final battle in the World Of Wishes. 

__

-when my taste improved. He snorted mentally; _what the hell was I THINKING-?! _

"Ah!" Ken said excitedly, motioning for Takeru to come over. "Takeru, I've got them!" 

"Good." The Child of Hope replied, walking over to where Ken was seated, on the edge of the bed. The bluenette was pouring over his D-Terminal, furiously typing messages to the other Chosen Children. Standing over him, Takeru held out one of the hats he had retrieved; "here-" 

"One second." Ken said absently, then, thinking out loud; "...problem... meet us at..." he finished typing and hit the 'send' key. "There. I managed to contact most of the others; Mimi's in America, obviously, and Sora's visiting her. We knew that, though. Yamato's in France, right? I couldn't get a hold of him. Same with Koushirou and Jou. They must not have their Terminal's handy, but Dai, Hikari, Miyako, Iori and Taichi are all going to meet us. I guess that means we really _are_ in Tokyo, though-" he finally looked up, and blinked blankly at what Takeru was proffering. "So... what's this?" 

"One of my old hats." Takeru responded, handing the hat to the Child of Kindness, who took it with evident confusion. Jamming the other hat onto his own head he explained; "if we're going to meet the others, we've got to cover these fucking ears." 

"What's wrong with our ears?" 

"They're bizarre," the blonde replied, "although I guess I'm glad we don't have the hair and braids this time-" 

"I guess." 

"So put the hat on already." 

Ken sighed and smoothed the hat over his not-even-brushed-yet hair; "I suppose we don't want to scare the others away, right?" 

"My thoughts exactly." Takeru looked toward the door and then back at Ken; "so-?" 

"So what?" 

"Where are we going?" 

"The park near Odaiba." 

"Good." A short nod; "let's go." 

But Ken hesitated. "Don't we get to get dressed first-?"   


~*~*~*~*~*~

Me: Okay, first chapter. Obviously a lot of setting up to do. Anyway, um... oh! Question! I heard somewhere that in the Japanese version, Mimi's Crest was Purity instead of Sincerity. Is that true? I need to know for the future chapters... 

Takeru: I have a question, too! 

Me: *blinkblink* What? 

Takeru: What the _hell_ do you have against my hats? 

Me: I... um, nothing? *confusion* 

Takeru: It sure seemed like it! 

Ken: Takeru, calm down. Um, what's going to happen to us this time? 

Me: *grin* Can't tell ya'! If I tell you, it'll ruin the surprise! 

Ken: Good surprise or _bad_ surprise? 

Me: ... ^-^;; Ehe! 


	4. Chapter 4: Odoroki

**Rating:** PG - PG-13

**Warnings:** [violence] [language] [het] [shounen-ai]

**Pairings:** Takeru/Ken, Ruki/Legolas, Daisuke/Juri, Lee/Takato, Ryo/Hikari & Iori/Shuichon

**Notes:** I've been having some trouble thinking of how to bring the rest of the Fellowship into the story... anyway, I've finally managed it but it was interesting. ^.^;; For some reason I had a brain block when it came to that. So...

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Digimon or Lord Of The Rings. If I did, I'd be rich, and I can tell you right now- *pulls pockets inside out and shows you nothing but lint, a half a pack of cherry flavored gum and a tube of toothpaste* Huh. *Looks at the gum* Now how'd _that_ get in there? Hm? *blink, blink, blink* -as you can see, I most certainly am _not_ rich. Mmm... toothpaste... (The opinions previously expressed are the product of my demented psyche, I do not endorse or condone the eating of toothpaste in any way.) 

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Digital

Chapter Four: Orodoki (Surprise)  


__

This bow string is too tight, this bow string is too loose, this bow string is juuuust right... Takeru couldn't keep his mind from singsong-ing the bastardized fairy tale as he, Ken and Ruki rummaged through the Archery Club's storage room. They all knew from experience that a bow had to be right for _you_ if you wanted to use it correctly. So they were testing them, each picking the one that suited them best. Twenty-six bows to go through, and all of it in utter silence. The tension was getting to him. _What the hell was that? 'This bow string is too tight' -- I sound like Dai. Shit._

"Would you three hurry the hell _up_, already?!" 

__

Why couldn't we have left him with the others? 

Daisuke leaned against the wall near the door, watching them work with an extremely bored look on his face. In reality, though, all of the others -- Tamer and Chosen alike -- had come with them to their school; the reason was that, when deciding on a place where they could all fit, the school cafeteria had came up. 

But they had all had the presence of mind _not_ to tag along into the Archery storage room. 

Everyone except the goggled redhead. 

And so they were stuck with a very bored, very aggravated, very frustrated (because no one was bothering to answer his rather demanding questions) and very, very, _terribly_ annoying (in ever sense of the word) Daisuke Motomiya. 

"Look, Daisuke," the blonde snapped, "why don't you go back with the others? We've got this in hand, okay?" 

"Not until you tell me how you're a fucking Elf." 

"We're not sure, we told you that already." Ken sighed, testing the tension of the bow he was currently working on; "once we figure it out, we'll let you know." And at Daisuke's impatient look; "Dai, _please_, you're not helping, here. You're just making Takeru develop a twitch." 

The redhead looked at Takeru for a moment, then grinned. "You need to take it easy." 

"Daisuke! _Get out_!" 

"Okay, okay. Throw a fucking fit, why don't you? I'm going." Pushing himself from the wall, he disappeared out the door, muttering to himself about Takeru's lack of patience. Since when did the Child of Hope freak out like that? When did he start acting like his brother? What was his problem, already? They were just picking bows, after all... and so on, and so on, and so on... 

"He talks more than in the show." Ruki commented flatly. "And he's twice as annoying." 

"I know." 

"Guys," Ken shook his head, "you're not being nice." 

"Yeah, well," Ruki's eyes flicked toward the bluenette, "you try being dragged out of your world for the second time in so-many-months and not have an attitude. What a pain in the ass." 

"Ruki, how'd you _get_ here, anyway?" 

"...a Digital Field appeared and when we all went to investigate we got sucked in and ended up here. The stupid thing just dropped us in the street like stones and vanished. Hn. We had no idea what was happening -- hell, your Tokyo looks the same as our Tokyo so all we saw was our city with no one in it." A pause and she slung the bow she had been testing over her shoulder. "This is the one I'm taking. It seems to have the best grip for me." She eyed the rest of the racked archery equipment with distaste. "People on Earth have no idea how to make a well-balanced bow." 

"Hm." Takeru agreed, hefting the bow he had decided on. "I'd give anything for a good Elven archery set. Then we wouldn't have to carry all these arrows, either." His eyes went to the piles of aluminum arrows that they had gathered together. "What a pain." 

"But we don't have the luxury of Elven equipment." Ken reminded them, "so this will have to do." He worked while he spoke, setting about strapping a full quiver to his back over the grey shirt he was wearing. "Anyway, Ruki, what were you saying? You just saw Tokyo city with no one in it-?" 

Ruki snorted, "the only reason I knew something was _really_ up was because of my ears. Takato pointed them out. Then I sensed the Orcs and we went to see what was going on; you guys were in trouble and we came up with a _very_ last minute plan. We're lucky it worked at _all_." She eyed Takeru; "and why the hell did you let your mind wander like that with the Orcs coming up behind you? You damn jackass, you almost got yourself killed!" 

"Look, I was worried about the others and-" 

"You _know_ how dangerous Orcs are, Doofus!" 

"Well _excuse me_ for wanting my friends to-" 

"Guys!" Ken interrupted before the argument could turn into a full-fledged fistfight, which was a distinct possibility with the two of them. "Fighting right now isn't the best idea. We have a lot of things to figure out and if we're arguing we won't get anywhere." His eyes went from Takeru to Ruki. "How did the Orcs get here, anyway?" 

There was a long silence as they all thought; all of them were thinking basically the same thing. However the Orcs had gotten there, chances were that it had something to do with where and how all the citizens of Tokyo had vanished. 

__

Is it just Tokyo, just Japan, or the whole world? 

Takeru was still worried, naturally. There were a lot of things for him to be worried over; Orcs in Tokyo, the Tamers having arrived, and then there were the other Chosen... not the younger ones (and Taichi, of course) who were currently seated in the cafeteria, but the ones they hadn't been able to contact. 

Koushirou was -- or had been -- busy working on his small-but-rapidly-growing software company (he was still trying to decide what to name it. Koushirou Co., using his given name, or Izzy Inc., using his childhood nickname) in a city several miles away. 

Jou was still studying to be a doctor, twitchy as he was, and giving nearly every teacher he had a nervous breakdown from his questions. Several of them – _teachers_ were saying this -- thought that he took too many notes and took his classes too seriously... 

What else was new? 

Mimi was in the process of shooting her first magazine cover. Vogue or some other huge name; she'd been modeling for some time and it was a big deal. And she had invited Sora to visit and share the experience with her. With Yamato gone she had less-than-nothing to do, and she hadn't seen Mimi in some time, so Sora had readily agreed. 

And Yamato himself, of course, was on tour in France. 

There was no way to get in contact with them, if the D-Terminal couldn't reach them... 

__

Damn it, I wish we knew they were alright. The Child of Hope thought darkly, _oi.... _

"A Digital Field," Ruki said finally, "chances are that if that's how I got here, that's how the Orcs got here. Stupid things. They've never been anything but trouble." 

"-Digital Field-?" 

"The Fields transport digimon from the Digital World to the Real World." The orange-haired girl explained impatiently; "or, they do – did -- in _our_ reality. Except the one that grabbed us, that is. They used to be a problem for us when we all first became Tamers; the evil digimon we fought were all brought to Tokyo by Digital Fields." 

"Oh." 

"The strange thing is our digimon..." 

"Huh?" 

Ruki looked at Ken, "what's the problem?" 

"What was so strange about your digimon?" 

"Renamon, Guilmon, Terriermon... they shouldn't be with us." 

"Ruki, what the hell are you talking about?" Takeru snorted, "you're making no sense." 

"Nothing I could say would make sense to you, Takeru. It'd all be too complex for your simple brain to grasp." 

"Why you-" 

"Got a problem, Hope Boy?" 

"I could ask you the same-" 

"Stop it, you two!" Ken snapped, finally losing his temper because of their bickering. "We have more important things to do, _as I said before_! Have you picked your bows? Good, because I have mine here. Grab all the arrows you can carry and we can go and try to figure things out with the others." 

There was a long silence as Ruki and Takeru attempted to get used to the idea of the normally soft spoken Child of Kindness having shouted at them. Ken _never_ lost his temper. Not since his stint as the Kaiser. But here he was, glaring at them (okay, so glaring was a little harsh. It was more of a 'Look') and tapping his fingers against his arm in agitation. 

Finally Takeru shook his head with a stifled grin. "You're too cute when you're mad." 

A blink from Ken. "Huh?" 

"Oh brother." Ruki rolled her eyes and snatched up as many full quivers as she could manage before stalking out of the room. "Like it wasn't bad enough before? Now I've got to deal with them again and they're not even _trying _to hide the fact that they're together..." her voice trailed off as she continued down the hall, still muttering to herself. 

"Well," Takeru shrugged, strapping a quiver onto his own back and then stooping to pick up the remaining full ones. _It's going to be a pain, but at least there are a bunch of extra people to carry the arrows until we need them._ He straightened and looked at Ken, "she just gets to me. Sorry." 

"...me too, I guess. I didn't mean to snap like that." 

"You guess?" 

"Yeah, well, you deserved it." 

"Maybe." 

"Definitely." 

"Huh. Fine, be that way." 

Ken rolled his eyes at the tone on Takeru's voice and simply headed out the door after Ruki, not believing the other boy's feigned-hurt for a second. The blonde was always trying things like that to get his sympathy, and usually had a less-than-honorable reason for it... 

"Hey Ruki, wait up!" 

The orange-haired girl paused near the end of the hallway and glanced back over her shoulder, an irritated look on her face. "We don't have all day, Ichijouji. Will you and Takeru hurry your slow asses up and stop with the flirting, please? The whole sexual innuendo thing you two are doing is _very_ annoying." 

Ken blinked, flushing. "Uh, sure." 

"Good." 

Without waiting any longer, she quickly turned on her heel and began to leave again, making Ken scramble to catch up. Takeru's footsteps could be heard echoing on the tile of the hall as he walked after them both. 

It was strange to be back together again, the three of them. 

__

Very big with the deja vu today, it seems. 

But it wasn't an uncomfortable deja vu. On the contrary; given the circumstances, Ken couldn't think of anyone he would rather have been with, considering the Orcs and everything else. It was odd having the _others_ there, though, and it worried the bluenette. The rest of the Chosen hadn't dealt with the creatures of Middle Earth before. 

They had no idea... 

A deep breath as they stepped outside into the main schoolyard and the Child of Kindness sighed when the cool air hit his lungs. It was still early in the morning... very early in the morning. He couldn't help the yawn. It was so damned _early_... 

"Tired, hm?" 

"Shut up, Takeru." 

The blonde stepped op behind him and playfully rested his chin on his shoulder. "You're _so_ not a morning person." 

"Neither are you." Ken felt the need to point out. "Remember?" 

Takeru straightened up and walked around to stand beside him. "That's not the issue." 

"And what _is_ the issue, then?" 

"None, really. Just making an observation." 

"Yeah. Thanks for that." 

The Child of Hope chuckled and looked around, shaking his head; "bright blue sky, perfect white clouds... sunny and warm... a perfect day. _Not_ the kind of day I want to spend hiding from Orcs, in any case." A sigh. "Not that we have much of a _choice_ in the matter." 

"Perfect day..." Ken mused, then; "ne... isn't it a little foggy for the morning?" 

"I guess..." Takeru nodded, considering, and looked around. 

It _was_ rather foggy... 

...and what was Ruki's problem? 

The girl had stopped walking halfway across the courtyard and was standing stock still, tensely, and glancing around somewhat nervously. Her hands clenched around the straps of the extra quivers that she was carrying. "Renamon." She said, eyes narrowing as she continued to look around her with a slightly-paranoid expression on her face. "Renamon!" 

The digimon appeared at her Tamer's side in a blur. "Yes?" 

"Look around." 

Renamon did as Ruki told her, and a frown graced her face. "A Field." 

"Hn." 

"A Field?" Ken wondered from where he and Takeru were standing, "she means a Digital Field?" 

"Like I know?" 

The bluenette gave Takeru a dry look. "Let's go." 

"Fine, fine..." 

They were only halfway across the yard from Ruki, but as they walked the fog thickened and it suddenly seemed like farther... then a feeling... worry... nervousness... was this what a Digital Field did..? Ken shivered unconsciously, even as Ruki was slipping a pair of sunglasses from her pocket and quickly putting them on. 

"Ruki!" 

She turned, her eyes landing on them. "Go. Renamon and I can handle this." 

"But-" 

"You don't have your digimon here anyway, damn it!" She snapped; "this is a Field, which means a digimon. You have no way to defend yourselves, so just get out of here before it-" 

Too late. 

A bright light began to glow from the center of the Field... 

The reason for Ruki's sunglasses. 

Ken and Takeru both had to squint as the fog enveloped the entire area, leaving them without an exit. Or... they could get out, but they couldn't see to find their way... in either case, they were stuck where they were. 

Which left Renamon two more people to fight to protect. 

__

We should have left when we had the chance! First Orcs and now digimon? One we can handle, but I don't think we can deal with both! The Child of Kindness unslung his bow without thinking, clutching it tightly in his hands. _We need help if we're going to make it through whatever's going on... anyone would be good... Aragorn or Legolas... or Boromir or Gimli, or even Pippin and Merry!_

A sound from the middle of the Field. 

Scuffling... 

__

We need our digimon! Wormmon and Patamon... 

"Get ready." Ruki stated. 

"Yes." Renamon's tensed, preparing. 

More scuffling... 

...too much? The noises were coming from more than one place. It was obvious to their Elven ears... 

"Ruki! There's more than one-" 

"Of course." The girl snorted, "naturally!" 

"You leave." Renamon addressed her Tamer; "take them and go, and I will fight." 

"No way!" 

This was Takeru, who ran a handful of steps ahead of Ken, already readying his bow. The blonde didn't like to run from anything, not anymore; his experiences in Middle Earth had toughened him, and he insisted on fighting his own battles. Besides that, he had too much respect for Renamon to leave her on her own. 

He loaded an arrow; "I don't know about you two, but _I'm_ staying." 

"Are you _kidding_ me?" Ruki demanded. 

"Not about this." 

"You _want_ to get killed?" 

"Of course not." Ken responded for the other boy. "But we don't want _you_ to get killed, either." 

"_You're_ staying, too?" 

"Yes." 

"Hn." 

"Shh!" A hiss from Renamon and they all fell silent. "They're coming-" 

Footsteps... scuffling... muffled whispers... what digimon whispered like that? It didn't matter. More soft and -- confused? -- whispers....both Chosen and the singular Tamer had to wonder about the muttering... 

...the shing of metal... 

...almost like... 

...a sword? 

It sounded like a sword being drawn. 

"A Knightmon?" Takeru murmured, "or a Ninjamon?" 

But Ken wasn't sure it was even a digimon. Something was different- 

-and hadn't Ruki said she was brought there by a Digital Field? 

"Takeru, I don't think-" 

__

Thwack! 

Something hit the ground just beside the bluenette, skimming his shoe. An arrow? 

"Takeru, I don't think it's-" 

But the blonde was ignoring him. The arrow he had ready was already whirring out and into the fog. 

A muffled curse; "what the hell is this?" 

The voice was terribly familiar. 

"Hey!" Ken shoved past Takeru and ran toward the voice. "It sounds like-!" He skidded to a stop suddenly when a glimmer off sharpened metal accosted him from onto a few inches away. He was staring down the point of a sword... 

__

Naturally. But I think it's... 

"Identify yourself." A voice growled. "Now." 

"Ken!" Takeru shouted from a few yards away; "are you okay?" 

"I think..." 

"Ken..." the unidentified voice muttered, and the sword lowered. "And Takeru-?" 

"Um... yeah..." the bluenette blinked when a half-dozen shadowed figures began to materialize from the Field. His heart jumped into his throat. What if it wasn't what he thought-? And then there was a blur of yellow, and Renamon was standing between him and the approaching figures, poised to defend him. 

He could hear both Takeru and Ruki running toward him. 

"Renamon-?" The voice sounded surprised and at that moment a very familiar face appeared through the haze, followed by several other _very_ familiar faces. "...is Ruki..." eyes landed on the Child of Kindness, who was staring in shock. "Ken?" 

A shellshocked blink. "Aragorn-?"   


~*~*~*~*~*~  


Me: *sad sigh* Aw, man, I really had to force this chapter out, can you tell? I'm not very fond of it... 

Ken: The rest of the Fellowship is here now? 

Renamon: Or at least Aragorn. 

Takeru: Yeah... what's going on..? 

Me: Can't tell ya'! I said that before! 

Takeru: Jerk. 

Ruki: Hn. 

Me: Sorry this chapter was kinda' mediocre. I'll try to make chapter 5 better, k?


	5. Chapter 5: Shinko

**Rating:** PG - PG-13

**Warnings:** [violence] [language] [het] [shounen-ai]

****

Pairings: Takeru/Ken, Ruki/Legolas, Daisuke/Juri, Lee/Takato, Ryo/Hikari & Iori/Shuichon

**Notes:** N/A, nyao nyao~! =^-^=

****

Disclaimer: Yup, yup... still don't own Digimon or Lord Of The Rings. What a bummer... . If I wasn't used to typing that by now it might really upset me. Boo hoo... hee, hee... just kidding. I don't cry. Okay, I DO, but not over silly things like this. 

Takeru: *dryly* Really? Well I seem to recall- 

Me: Ack! No commentary 'til the end! *clubs him and drags him away* 

  
**Digital**

Chapter Five: Shinko (Friendship)  


"Aragorn!" 

Ken glanced back at Takeru's exclamation, which had been followed by a string of muttered curses. The blonde was holding the arrow that had landed beside them -- he had stooped to pick it up, apparently, though Ken hadn't seen him do it -- and staring in shock at the man who was standing only a foot away from the bluenette. 

The Ranger was staring just as openly at them. "What-" he began- 

"Bloody hell!" Gimli interrupted loudly from behind him, "we thought you were _dead_!" 

"We could say the same of you." Renamon commented. 

The Child of Kindness found himself unable to come up with any particularly coherent words. _I think I'm in shock. _Glancing past Aragorn, his eyes skimmed over everyone. "Gimli... Legolas... Merry... Pippin... Frodo... Sam..." of course, Gandalf wasn't there, but where was Boromir? "Hey, where's-" 

"Merry!" This time it was Legolas who interrupted, sounding more terribly shocked than they had ever heard him sound before. In the blink of an eye the Elf, as well as Aragorn and Gimli, had spun and were gaping at the four Hobbits. "Pippin! And Frodo and Sam!" 

"You're all here!" 

"We thought you were-" 

"How did you-" 

Ken, Takeru and Ruki watched blankly as the other members of their former company greeted each other excitedly. It was as if they hadn't seen each other in weeks and hadn't really expected to meet up again at all. What could possibly have happened? 

"Um, Aragorn?" 

Turning to Takeru, the Ranger frowned, "it's a long story." 

"From the looks of the city," Ruki said dryly; "we have plenty of time." 

"Hm." 

"What happened after we were gone?" Ken wondered, watching the Hobbits share hugs and happy handshakes. "Where's Boromir?" 

A grim silence settled on them, despite the happiness of being reunited, at the mention of Boromir's name. Blinking, the Child of Kindness tried to repress the sudden feeling of angst that washed over him. _Oh no..._

"Boromir's gone." Renamon's voice was soft and subdued, but she seemed sure of what she was saying. "He didn't make it from that final battle." Sharp eyes landed on Aragorn, surveying the Ranger's reaction to her statement. "Isn't that right?" 

Instead of speaking, Aragorn nodded shortly. 

"Well crap." Takeru scowled; behind the visage of anger, Ken could see that he was upset by the revelation. True, the Child of Hope had never particularly _liked_ Boromir, but he certainly hadn't wished death upon the man, especially the kind of death that he would have received at the hands of the Orcs. 

Casting Takeru a soft look, Ken blinked back almost-tears. "We'd hoped," he told those who had just arrived, "that you had all escaped from that battle with your lives... it was all we COULD do, considering our circumstances..." 

"Unfortunately," Legolas said gravely, "we fear that he and Gandalf will not be the last casualties of the war for the One Ring." 

__

The Ring... Takeru's eyes went to Frodo, searching for the thick chain that had once been around the Hobbit's neck. He couldn't see it, but that didn't mean anything... did it? The blonde frowned; "Frodo, about the Ring-" 

"Oh?" The little one blinked, then seemed to understand and tugged the links of metal from beneath his tunic, holding the chain up so that the One Ring glimmered in the morning light. "I still have it," he assured them, then; "Sam and I didn't get very far before we... um, before we found ourselves here." 

"Where _is_ here, anyway?" Merry wondered out loud. 

A snort from Ruki, making Ken almost-smile. "It's called Tokyo," the bluenette announced to them all, making a vague gesture to encompass the surrounding city. "It's our home city in our world... or, Takeru's and mine. Ruki and Renamon are from another version of Tokyo; another world. But you knew that." 

Pippin looked around himself in awe. "We're not in Middle Earth anymore," he said pointlessly, only succeeding in gaining a smack from Merry. "Ow!" Rubbing his arm, the Hobbit scowled at his friend. "That _hurt_, you know!" 

"Good." 

A few feet away, Ruki heaved an exasperated sigh. She was glad to see the rest of the Fellowship, though she wasn't about to show it. But she could already tell that her annoyance with Pippin and Merry was just going to come back all over again... 

"Ruki?" Renamon's voice was flat as she turned to her Tamer. 

"We need to get back to the others." The girl said, crossing her arms, "Daisuke's been back for a while, I'm sure, and the big mouth is probably telling everyone and their brother that the three of us have got some kind of a killer attitude problem..." her eyebrow raised in contempt and she started walking back to the school, not waiting for anyone else to follow her. "He's such a jackass..." 

Ken couldn't help it. He giggled, making everyone stare at him in surprise -- even Ruki paused in her stalking toward the cafeteria to glance back at him after his outburst. _Oh man... I shouldn't be laughing at Dai's expense anyway, and now they all think I'm insane..._ Clearing his throat embarrassedly, he waved them off and hurried after the orange-haired girl and her digimon. 

I was only a short distance to the school entrance, and all three 'Chosen' -- Ken, Takeru and Ruki -- as well as Renamon, walked it in relative silence, listening to the excited chatter between the rest of their former-fellowship. Most of the excitement seemed to be coming from the Hobbits, but the others were joining in as well- 

Or, everyone except Aragorn was. He was quiet and contemplative as he surveyed the school area and scanned what he could see of the buildings beyond. There was nothing to say that he was surprised by what he was seeing --_ but, _Ken thought with a glance back, _who wouldn't be surprised if they came from a medieval world to this one? He's just good at keeping his feelings a secret. _

"Now what?" 

"Hm?" Turning toward Takeru, Ken raised his eyebrows questioningly. "Sorry, what?" 

The blonde sighed, shifting the bundle of arrows he was carrying. "What do we do now?" He said, "that's what I was asking. Anyway, I'm just thinking that there's got to be _something_ serious going on, right? The whole city's deserted except for us, Orcs are running rampant, and now we've got them-" he nodded back toward the others, "-here." 

Ken nodded, "there's definitely something going on-" 

"Duh." Ruki snorted from ahead of them, making them both shake their heads. 

"-but," the bluenette continued, "how are we supposed to figure out what it is?" 

"...if Koushirou was with us, he could figure it out, I'm sure." Takeru paused, considering, "I wonder if there's any way we can contact him..." 

"Perhaps there is," Renamon said softly, catching their attention. Again, they were surprised when she spoke, and so they listened carefully to what she had to say. "But even if we can't contact your friend, Lee could probably help. He's quite intelligent-" 

"-unlike _some_ goggled-idiots." Ruki interrupted. 

"Would you give it a _rest_ already?!" Takeru demanded angrily, "I mean shit-" 

Ruki glared. 

"You know," Ken said, changing the subject before they could begin to argue yet again, "Miyako's good with the analytical stuff, too, right? Maybe if she and Lee worked together they could at least _start_ to figure things out for us?" 

"Maybe." Takeru agreed, looking somewhat reluctant. "We could give it a shot." 

"Alright, then." 

Silence once more. Even the Hobbits had calmed down, probably as they neared the school itself. Certainly they were more curious than chatty as Ruki shoved the doors to the cafeteria building open and lead the way down to where their friends were- supposed to be- waiting. 

"You think Miyako and Lee will agree to help?" 

"Sure, why not?" 

Ken grimaced, "Takeru, did you see the way Miyako was _looking _at Lee when-" 

"I know, I know. I feel bad for him, I really do." 

"...we should warn him." 

"Yeah. Remind me some time when Miyako's not around, ne?" 

"Okay." Nodding, the bluenette could only feel bad for the Tamer -- whom Miyako seemed to have decided was cute, or whatever other words her mind could come up with. _I'll have to remember to give him a heads up. God knows that I've already experienced Miyako's – uh -- stalking, so-_ his thoughts broke off suddenly, as Ruki stopped walking, making him -- in his introverted state -- bump into her back before he realized. "Ruki?" 

"Man," the girl shook her head in disgust, "will you look at this?" 

Curious despite himself, Ken peered past Ruki and into the main room of the cafeteria, his eyes flitting around. Takeru was leaning over _his_ shoulder, in turn, and snickered softly. "Well it looks like they've settled in." 

'Settled in' was an understatement, to say the least. 

Across from them, seated at one of the tables, Hikari and Juri were chatting -- there was much laughter and smiling; they were getting along well. Nearby, Miyako was latched on to Lee's arm while Terriermon glared at her from the opposite shoulder and Hirokazu cracked 'why don't you run away with me' jokes; Lee was bearing it all with an exasperated but tolerant smile. Iori and Shuichon were talking in hushed tones about what it was like to be the youngest -- did the others listen to their suggestions? Were they taken seriously, despite their age? -- and seemed to be doing fine. Finally, Taichi and Daisuke had a captive audience as they related the story of when Agumon had been kidnaped by the digimon Kaiser -- "I mean, we don't hold it against Ken or anything! He's a great guy! He was just a little messed up for a while..." -- while Takato, Kenta and Guilmon listened in what could be taken as absolute rapture. 

"So then he was like 'evolve to Ultimate' and 'cause of the Spiral thing, Agumon totally had to! But, see, something went wrong and he couldn't evolve the right way and he ended up as a Dark digimon instead, see-" 

Ruki rolled her eyes at Daisuke's rambling. "Children, all of them!" She groaned sarcastically, "hell, we _know_ about all this already! We _watched_ the damn thing happen on the television!" 

"Come on Ruki," Ken chided, "let them have their fun." 

"It's so _stupid_!" 

"You don't have to listen." The bluenette pointed out with a sigh, "and besides, at least it keeps them out of trouble-" he paused then, blinking when Daisuke's stomach growled loudly and the redheaded boy grinned sheepishly. "Uh oh." 

Behind them, Pippin was tugging at their clothing, trying to get them to move out of the way for him to see as well. "What? What is it? Aw, come on! What's going on? This is so unfair, you guys are way taller than me!" 

"Pippin!" Takeru snapped, jerking his shirt out of the Hobbit's grasp, "give us a second here!" 

"You did say 'uh oh'." Legolas pointed out, "so I suppose I can see why he's curious." 

"...I guess..." 

"It's just that..." Ken trailed off, shaking his head. "I was just saying they were keeping out of trouble... but if Dai's hungry, things are going to get crazy if we don't feed him soon. He's got a food thing, what can I say?" 

"I see." The Elf raised an eyebrow. 

"Sounds like someone else I know." Frodo commented with a glance toward Merry and Pippin, and making Sam snicker at the indignant looks on their faces. 

"Hey! Ken! Takeru!" Miyako's voice called, making them all look back into the room, "Ruki! What're you guys doing over there? Who're you talking to? I thought there was no one else around here-" 

"Yeah, well..." Ken chuckled nervously. "See..." 

"Oh just _come on_!" Grabbing Ken's arm, Ruki dragged him bodily into the room with Takeru following right behind. Renamon's eyes flicked toward them before she vanished again, leaving to do God-knows-what. 

"So..." 'Kazu smirked, looking half-amused and half-confused. "What's goin' on?" 

"Um," taking his arm back from Ruki, Ken gestured toward the door. "You guys can come in now... so... here's the thing. We were coming from the Archery room and ran into a Digital Field..." 

"A Field?" Terriermon asked curiously, "really? Here?" 

"But the Digital Fields are gone!" Guilmon piped up. "Right?" 

Ruki snorted again and sat down heavily at one of the many long tables, crossing her arms and regarding Guilmon with a slightly disgusted look. "Obviously not." Her eyes flicked to Takato, "listen, Doofus, can you please get your digimon to keep quiet while we introduce everyone?" 

Juri looked shocked. "Ruki, that was mean!" 

Guilmon, for his part, seemed hurt. "Takatomon..." 

"...s'okay, Guilmon." The goggled-boy shook his head. "Just ignore her, okay? But try to be quiet while Ruki and the others are talking." 

"...o-kay..." 

Ken felt a moment of pity for the dinosaur-digimon, who obviously had the sweet temperament of a puppy. Now he was sitting, slumped slightly and with his eyes downcast -- until Takato patted his head. Then he brightened, grinned, and focused his attention back on them. 

"So, we were saying," Takeru motioned for the rest of the now-broken fellowship to come into the room, and had to grin when Pippin was the first to bounce in, followed quickly by Merry, who was attempting to swat him out of his enthusiasm. "There's some people you should meet." 

"What the fuck!" Daisuke was on his feet in an instant, gaping as the Hobbits, then Gimli and Legolas, and finally Aragorn, strode into the room. "Th-there's – I -- there's another Elf and -- and what -- _what_ are the rest of them-?!" 

The expression on everyone's face was priceless, and Ken found himself stifling another giggle. 

"It's a long story, I fear." Aragorn spoke up, glancing at Takeru, "shall I tell it, or will you?"   


~*~*~*~*~*~  


Me: ...okay, first off, I know that some people don't read the opening shpiel, so here it is again. _Gomen nasai _for taking so long with this chapter! ^.^;; I had a _slight_ crisis and... well, yeah. Sorry. I had to take a bit of a break with everything recently, though... 

Guilmon: *sniffle* Everyone was upset with me! 

Takato: No, no, not everyone! 

Juri: Poor thing! It was just Ruki! 

Guilmon: She was _mean_... 

Ruki: Crybaby. 

Guilmon: Hey! *sniffles again* 

Me: Come on, guys, get along... Guilmon, just ignore her, okay? Ruki's always like that with everyone, right? You should know that by now. 

Guilmon: S-still... 

Me: *pats his head* Look, I promise a little fun in the next chapter, alright? 

Guilmon: Really? 

Takato: See? Everything'll be fine! *peace sign* 

Juri: Here! I'll get things going! *slaps a smiley-face sticker on Guilmon's nose* See? _That's_ fun, isn't it? 

Guilmon: Yeah! 

Takato: *sweatdrop* 

Me: Uh...


	6. Chapter 6: Keshiki

**Rating:** PG - PG-13

**Warnings:** [violence] [language] [het] [shounen-ai]

****

Pairings: Takeru/Ken, Ruki/Legolas, Daisuke/Juri, Lee/Takato, Ryo/Hikari, Iori/Shuichon

****

Notes: OMG. _Five months with no updates!_ *grovels* Please forgive me and my epic writers block, minna-san! I am _soooo_ sorry! ^^;;

Dedication #1: Allison! Thank you so much for not giving up on me, despite the five-month dry spell! *huggles*

****

Dedication #2: Lady Fox! I'm so glad you like the ficcy! ^-^ *glomps* Oh, oh! Frodo and Legolas say 'hi' back!

Frodo: Hi!

Legolas: Hi!

****

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or Lord Of The Rings!   


****

Digital

Chapter Six: Keshiki (Scenery)  


"-_HOW DARE YOU IMPLY THAT DWARVES ARE NO MORE THAN_-" 

"Um-" 

"-_WE HAPPEN TO BE A PROUD AND NOBLE_-" 

"See, I'm sure he didn't mean-" 

"-_NOT TO MENTION BRAVE AND_-" 

"He's sorry, so-" 

"-_TO SUGGEST THAT WE'RE JUST_-" 

Takeru sighed from his seat at one of the long tables. Gimli had been ranting for a good ten minutes now, and didn't show any intentions of stopping. Daisuke's exclamation of "_what_ are the rest of them-?!" had set him off, and now the goggled boy was cowering from the Dwarf, hiding behind Taichi and peeking out from around the older boy in fear. 

Taichi was trying to make peace between them, which was hard given the fact that Gimli was brandishing an axe and wouldn't let him have a word in edgewise. 

Legolas was standing behind his friend, trying to calm him down. Merry and Pippin were ignoring the ruckus in favor of curiously poking and prodding Guilmon -- who was giggling insanely, bless his cute digimon heart. Frodo and Sam were watching the altercation worriedly and whispering under their breaths, and Aragorn had sat down at the table next to Takeru, rubbing his temples and muttering to himself about how he was going to 'hunt him some Dwarf' if Gimli didn't stop soon. 

"Headache?" Takeru asked. 

"Hm." Aragorn nodded, glancing up as Gimli's tirade continued. 

"-_YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT A DWARF IS?! YOU_-" 

"I'll get you some aspirin in a sec." The blond stood, ignoring the confused look he got from Aragorn at the mention of 'aspirin'. "I just have to deal with this first." Walking over, he looked from Gimli to Taichi and Daisuke, and back again, then, ignoring Ken (who was making 'do, don't!' gestures from where he was standing) he silently reached out and snatched the axe from Gimli's hands. 

"-_HEY_!" 

Silence fell over the room as Takeru calmly shifted the axe from one hand to the other and stared down at the _terribly_ angry Dwarf. In the corner, Renamon appeared without a word, to watch, her paws full of rolled papers. Behind Gimli, Legolas was scraping for words and trying to keep his mouth from hanging open in a very undignified way. 

Nobody stole a Dwarf's weapon. Ever. 

"Takeru!" Gimli snarled, "what in the _Nine Hells_ do you think you're doing?!" 

Clearing his throat, the Chosen of Hope replied; "stopping your rant." 

Flatly. "Give. Me. Back. My. Axe." 

"No." 

Gimli sputtered, shocked. "_What_?!" 

"No." Sighing, he continued; "you don't need it right now, and all you're doing is terrifying Daisuke. He probably thinks you're going to chop him into firewood. So you're not getting it back yet. In any case, you need to stop your shouting so that Dai can apologize properly and we can all sit down and figure out what the hell is going on." 

Gimli stared. 

Okay, _everyone_ stared. 

Finally, Daisuke spoke. "Um.. I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to piss you off." 

The Dwarf glanced at him. "Fine." He said gruffly, then to Takeru; "can I have my axe back now?" 

Takeru handed it over without a word and then went back to his seat. "I had to do something." He told Aragorn, who was chuckling. "Or he'd've kept going all day and _nothing_ would've gotten done." 

"I agree." 

"So," the blond looked around. "What do we do first?" 

"Here." 

He nearly jumped out of his skin when Renamon appeared beside him, dropping the three rolled papers she'd been holding onto the table in front of him. Glaring at her, he snapped, "damn it, Renamon! Will you _stop_ sneaking up on me like that?!" 

She regarded him calmly, but he thought he could see her moth trying to twitch into a smile as she responded; "I'm not." 

"You're-?" Sighing, Takeru shook his head and reached for the papers. "What're these?" 

"Maps." 

"_Maps_?" 

"Yes." Renamon nodded. "I took the liberty of exploring the city." Taking a map, she quickly unrolled it. "There are several landmarks missing -- Tokyo Tower, for example, is nowhere to be found. There are also things that _are_ here that should not be..." 

As she spoke, the others had crowded around to listen and watch as she pointed out discrepancies. Takeru glanced up at Ken, who was watching with worried interest, and then at Ruki. She was frowning, seeming unable to decide between annoyance and anger. Shuichon had dug into a pouch she was carrying on her hip and produced a black pen, which she handed to Renamon without a word. 

"Here, where the Harbor should be, the edge of the city runs into a flat plain that goes on for several miles and then ends at a rock face -- a cliff that plummets to the Pacific Ocean below." The digimon continued, using Shuichon's pen to mark out what she was saying overtop of the map of Tokyo. "And here there is a mountain chain, that runs out into the ocean at this point, opposite from the cliffs." Looking up, Renamon paused; "there also seems to be two points of origin for the Orcs, as far as I can see." 

"Where?" Aragorn asked. 

Renamon's eyes flicked to him and then back to the map. "Here, beyond the plains, is one. There's a fortress, from what I can tell." She glanced around, making sure everyone was paying attention, "the second point is here, north of the new mountain chain -- from what we were told in Middle Earth, the land here has been converted into something remarkably similar to Mordor..." 

"_What_?!" Ken yelped. 

"I take it that's bad?" Juri said softly. 

"Renamon," Takeru rubbed a temple, "are you saying Toyko's being mixed with Middle Earth?" 

Renamon nodded shortly. "It seems that way." 

"Hn." Ruki's eyes skimmed over the map, "we know Mordor is here, but what about the other lands of Middle Earth? Rivendell, or Moria? Gondor?" 

Shaking her head, Renamon shook her head. "I can't be sure. This is all that I could find. Aside from a few buildings and shrines being missing, and forests or swamps having sprung up in their place, Mordor and this fortress-" she tapped the place she had circled, "I don't think any more of Middle Earth is here." 

"Maybe..." Everyone turned to look at Miyako, who was chewing a nail worriedly. Pushing her glasses up her nose, she silently dug her D-Terminal out of her pocket, "maybe the merge with this Middle Earth place isn't complete..." 

Taichi frowned, "what do you mean?" 

"Look," tapping the screen of her Terminal, Miyako continued; "maybe whatever -- or whoever -- is turning our Earth and Middle Earth into one place didn't account for the Digital World." 

Kazu looked confused. "What're you talking about?" 

Miyako waved him away irritably, "if the person who's melding our worlds together didn't know about the Digital World, then they would have _thought_ they were only dealing with two worlds, and instead were dealing with three!" 

"Um..." 

Giving an exasperated sigh, Miyako threw her hands into the air. "Doesn't anyone understand what I'm talking about?!" 

"I think I get what you're saying," Lee told her thoughtfully. "Since the Digital World is a intricate part of this Earth, some of Middle Earth might have been transferred to the Digital World instead..." 

"So there might be more of Middle Earth trapped in the Digital World." Ken finished for them, gesturing to Miyako's D-Terminal. "When we were trying to contact everyone, we didn't try the digimon. Miyako, give it a try now. If what you're saying is true, then we might have more of a problem than we thought we did." 

Takeru rested his head in his hand, propping himself up on his elbow. _So we might have THREE totally screwed-up worlds, instead of just two. Shit. And I thought we were in trouble before... what the HELL is happening?_

There was a long silence as Miyako began to tinker with her Terminal, muttering to herself and cursing almost silently when it wouldn't work for the right away. The differences in the dimension might have caused the Terminal to malfunction, so it wasn't unexpected, but it didn't make it any less frustrating. 

After a few moments, Renamon vanished again, saying she was off to scout some more; no one objected, as she was their best hope of learning the new landscape of Tokyo. 

Merry and Pippin went back to playing with Guilmon, only this time Terriermon joined in as well. Now that he was calm again, Gimli took the opportunity to strike up a conversation with Taichi (whom he had nothing against, despite his earlier ranting), as well as Iori and Shuichon, who were terribly curious about Middle Earth in general. Kazu and Kenta began asking Daisuke questions about being a Chosen Child, while Sam and Frodo listened intently and tried to understand just what a Chosen Child _was_, and Hikari and Juri curiously got Legolas to explain some of the pros and cons of being an Elf. 

Lee worked with Miyako on the D-Terminal, and Ken soon joined them. In no time, the three of them were in a technical-world that very few would have understood. 

Ruki was silently setting up a makeshift practice-gallery in an empty corner, using some plates and bowls from the kitchen. She'd pushed a table up against the wall and leaned the china on it. Soon she was honing her not-forgotten archery skills (and muttering about how crappy the workmanship on the bow was) and breaking plated left and right. 

Takeru shook his head. _Not that I couldn't use some practice..._

"So..." Takato cleared his throat, making Takeru and Aragorn glance up. "Just out of curiosity, since we've been here for a while... are we planning on having something to eat, since we _are_ in the cafeteria?" 

At the mention of food, Guilmon's head came up and he bounced over, Terriermon clutching his head and trying not to fall off. "Takatomon!" The dinosaur-digimon whined, "I'm hungry! There was no breakfast today!" 

Takato sighed, "I know, Guilmon." 

Takeru had to grin. "Digimon are bottomless pits." 

"Yup!" Terriermon agreed brightly. "So how 'bout it?" 

"I could go for something!" Pippin called from across the room, "it's about time for second breakfast, anyway!" 

Aragorn groaned and shook his head. 

Ken looked up long enough to point out; "we couldn't be in a better place..." 

"Who's going to cook?" Shuichon wondered. 

"Hey, I will!" Daisuke piped up, "me n' Taichi'll cook! Right Taichi?" 

"Uh, sure, I guess..." 

"Cool!" 

The goggled-boy headed into the kitchen with his predecessor right behind him, humming to himself as he went. After a second, Takato shrugged and dashed after them with Guilmon on his heels. 

"Uh," Lee said after a second of silence, "are we sure we want to eat something _they_ come up with?" 

Ruki snorted but said nothing. 

"Oh, come on!" Juri assured them, "I'm sure they're-" she was interrupted by a series of ear-shattering crashes, followed by incoherent shouting, and winced. "Then again..." 

Hikari giggled, "you were saying?" 

"Hey..." Terriermon looked up, nose twitching, "am I the only one who smells smoke?" 

"Oh jeez." Iori shook his head. 

Kazu, meanwhile, was laughing his head off. 

"Maybe someone should go in there and supervise?" Shuichon wondered, "before we all die in a horrible inferno from the kitchen?" 

Everyone stared at her. 

She blinked, "what?" 

Lee shook his head, "much as I hate to say it, Shuichon's right." 

"Hey!" 

"Merry and I'll do it," Pippin volunteered, "c'mon Merry!" 

More silence as the two Hobbits vanished behind the swinging door. 

"So..." Ken began, then trailed off. "Are we sure we're any better with Merry and Pippin in there, too?" 

Sam sighed, "they may be idiots, but they _can_ cook." 

"He's right." Frodo agreed, "we should be fine." 

__

I'll believe it if no one dies of food-poisoning... Takeru thought, then reprimanded himself mentally. The Hobbits were a pain, sometimes, but he knew they had hearts of gold, _and_ he knew that they could cook. He'd eaten their cooking before. _So as long as they don't let Dai do it, we'll all live to tell the tale... _

Thwack! 

The Child of Hope looked up at the sound of an arrow whirring through the air, followed by the crash of a plate shattering. His eyes followed Ruki as she set up another arrow and prepared to sent another plate to meet it's maker. 

"Hey, that's pretty cool!" Kenta exclaimed. 

"I didn't know Ruki could do that," Juri said, then addressing Takeru, "is that something you learned in Middle Earth as well?" 

Takeru nodded, "Ken and Ruki and I..." 

Legolas eyed the bow she was using, "your aim is off a bit." He told her, "but I can't blame you, using that..." 

Ruki sighed, "this was the best we could come up with." 

"Here-" pacing over, the Elf silently handed her his own bow. "Practice with this. I'll see what I can do about fixing yours." 

__

Gee, romance blooms... Takeru shook his head. He'd seen the growing bond between Ruki and Legolas the first time they'd been thrown together, and it seemed to have remained. _I wish him luck. If he can get through her Ice-Bitch facade, more power to him. _

"Hey, Takeru!" 

"Hm? What Iori?" 

"Why don't you show us what you can do?" 

The blonde blinked, "like, archery?" 

Iori grinned, "sure. A contest between you and Ruki." 

A half-frown. When had Iori become so competitive? "I don't stand a chance if she's got an Elven bow." 

"Still," Miyako looked up from her Terminal for a second, eyebrow raised. "It'd be interesting to see." 

"Looks like you're outnumbered." Aragorn said under his breath. 

Takeru shot him a look that clearly said 'you stay out of this' and sighed, defeated. "I suppose..." standing, he reached for the bow he's brought with him and slung a quiver -- one of many they'd brought from the store-room -- over his shoulder. 

"Well," he said to Ruki, who was waiting for him in the corner, having just set up more plates to be broken. "Who's going to clean this up in the end?" 

A snort. "Does it matter?" 

Takeru gave her a wry grin, "you're looking forward to kicking my ass, aren't you?" 

Ruki shrugged, "maybe. Not that it's fair, with my using Legolas' bow." 

"True." 

The girl reached for an arrow and expertly set it, "ready?" 

Without waiting for a reply, she let the arrow fly -- it struck a plate, directly center, and sent china shrapnel flying. Takeru took a moment to check his bow and then released an arrow of his own, breaking another plate. 

"Hey, guys! We've got food for -- oh..." Takato, who'd just come from the kitchen, broke off when he noticed what was going on. Silently, he and the others (who had emerged with platters of sandwiches and other things) watched as Ruki took her turn. 

The orange-haired girl silently knocked another arrow, sending it flying. It struck a third plate, shattering it, and stuck in the wall of the school. 

Takeru's arrow followed shortly, connecting with the flight of Ruki's arrow and splitting it down the middle. He stepped back with a pleased grin, then shook his head, sighing when a final arrow from Ruki's bow whipped forward the split _his_ arrow in two. 

"Looks like I win." 

"Well," Takeru unstrung his bow. "I'm not surprised in the least. Next time, though, I use the Elven bow and _you_ use one that was made on Earth." 

Was it just him, or did Ruki almost smile? He was about to comment on it when her eyes narrowed and she shoved him out of the way. Taking a few steps forward, she shouted, "Renamon!" And when the fox-like digimon appeared, she said. "Tell me this isn't..." 

Takeru blinked, surprised. 

"Hey," Sam called, "did it just get foggy in here, or is it me?" 

"Renamon?!" 

Renamon looked grim. "Yes, Ruki, it is." 

"God _damn it_!" 

Lee was on his feet instantly, "no way!" 

"Guys!" Kazu shouted, "it's a Digital Field-!" 

__

Oh fuck... Takeru barely had time to register what was going on before the feeling of being digitized washed over him, and everything went white.   


~*~*~*~*~*~  


Me: Um... gomen? *bows repeatedly* I am soooo sorry for taking so long with this chapter! I had a lot to do, and I had a family crisis during the summer, and _all_ of my writing got behind, not just this! 

Takeru: You're just lazy. 

Me: _What_?! That is _so_ not true! 

Takeru: Suuuure... 

Ken: That's not nice, Takeru. 

Takeru: What? She deserves it! She left all those readers hanging for _five months_! 

Ruki: For once, I agree with Hope Boy. 

Taichi: So, what's a Digital Field? 

Ruki: *rolls eyes* You Chosen really _are_ clueless! 

Hikari: To be fair, there's no such thing as a Digital Field in our Earth. 

Me: Uh, guys? 

Lee: That's true, Ruki. 

Takato: You really need to lighten up. 

Me: Guys? 

Ruki: Why don't you two just stay out of it?! 

Me: Hello? 

Everyone: *continues to bicker* 

Me: *sweatdrop* ^^;; Guess we've got nothing productive to say right now... 

Iori: What's going to happen to us? 

Me: Iori-chan! You'll just have to wait and see! 

Shuichon: Perfect...


	7. Chapter 7: Tatakau

**Rating:** PG - PG-13

**Warnings:** [violence] [language] [het] [shounen-ai]

**Pairings:** Takeru/Ken, Ruki/Legolas, Daisuke/Juri, Lee/Takato, Ryo/Hikari & Iori/Shuichon

**Notes:** Whee! Another chapter! Wow, when I get back into stories, things come along quickly, ne? lol.

**Dedication:** Digital Sword! Arigatou gozaimasu for the email you sent (who knows how long ago, when I was still in a slump) as well as the review! Also, thanks muchly for recommending my story to your friends! ^_~

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Disclaimer: I'll take "people who don't own Digimon or Lord Of The Rings" for a thousand! ^^ (Who is fanfic author "Senashenta"?)   


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Digital

Chapter Seven: Tatakau (Battle)  


"Uhh..." 

"Okay... ow..." 

"Is everyone alright..?" 

"I think I broke my head." 

"Don't be stupid Pip!" 

"Takatomon..." 

"Yeah Guilmon..?" 

"My tail has extra corners." 

Groaning, Takeru pushed himself off the ground, spitting dirt and sand. _Ruki! Damn her! Why didn't she tell me getting zapped by a Digital Field hurt that much? _Standing, he blinked to clear the dust from his eyes, and looked around. 

The first thing he noticed was that they seemed to be in the middle of a field. Though, if he really thought about it, it was more likely related to the plains that Renamon had told them about earlier. In any case, he couldn't see anything but grass and the occasional bush or rock formation all the way to the horizon. 

The second thing he noticed was that not everyone was there; to his left, Takato was checking on Guilmon, who seemed to have broken a bone in his tail. The digimon was taking it well enough, though he whimpered occasionally. Beside them, Lee and Terriermon were checking each other for injuries as well. 

Hikari was a little farther off, and Taichi was helping her to her feet. The frail girl took a moment to orient herself, and then began brushing dirt and grass from her hair. Taichi headed over to check on Merry and Pippin, who were in a Hobbit heap nearby. 

Gimli was a few yards away, staring out into the horizon. He might have been trying to figure out where they were, which wasn't likely given that he'd never been to Tokyo before, even if it was a screwy-version of Japan. 

Iori and Shuichon were dusting each other off, and Shuichon was attempting to figure out if she had a black eye or if the dark patch on her face -- that Iori had kindly pointed out -- was just dirt. 

Finally, Aragorn was wandering from person to person, making sure everyone was alright and -- with the exception of a bump or bruise, and Guilmon's kinked tail -- uninjured. The Ranger seemed to have a good handle on the situation already, though Takeru couldn't boast to the same thing. 

__

It's just one thing after another, isn't it? 

The third thing he noticed -- mostly because Shuichon pointed it out-- was that he had landed on the bow and the quiver of arrows he'd been carrying at the time the Digital Field grabbed them from the school. 

"Um, Takeru?" 

"Yeah?" 

"You've..." the girl paused, looking unsure of what to say, and then; "you've got an arrow in your leg." 

Takeru blinked. "What?" 

Aragorn, who'd been helping set Guilmon's tail, looked up. "She's right you know." 

Looking down, the blond raised an eyebrow. Sure enough, an arrow was sticking out of his thigh, just above his knee; the flight had been broken off, and the arrowhead was halfway imbedded in his flesh. 

"Well this just makes my fucking day." Sighing, Takeru reached down and yanked the arrow out, tossing it to the side in disgust. He looked up in time to see the others -- save for Aragorn and Gimli -- wince at his expense. "What? It's not like I've never been hurt before." 

"O-kay..." 

"Are you sure you're alright?" 

Takeru grinned, amused by Takato's question. "Never better." Then, ignoring the confused looks from the rest of the Chosen and/or Tamers, he tore a strip of cloth from the hem of his shirt and (though the wound wasn't deep and was only bleeding sluggishly) wrapped it around his leg. 

"Now." Picking up the bow and slinging it and the quiver of arrows over his shoulder, he straightened up. "Who're we missing?" Counting on his fingers, he began going over names; "Ken, Dai and Miyako from our world, then Ruki and Renamon, Kazu, Kenta and Juri from the Tamers universe and Legolas, Frodo and Sam from Middle Earth." 

"So half of us are here, and half us are somewhere else." Iori stated. "But where?" 

"Who knows?" Lee frowned. "Digital Fields are unpredictable at best." 

"So what should we do?" Hikari wondered. 

"I don't-" Takeru began, then paused as Aragorn interrupted him. 

"Takeru-" the Ranger said gravely, "my suggestion... is that we run." 

"Run?" Whirling, the Child of Hope was already reaching for his bow. "From what-?!" 

His eyes landed on the Orc horde just as what looked like the last of them crested the horizon. Swearing violently, Takeru knocked an arrow. Beside him, Aragorn was doing much the same, having forgone his sword for the time being. 

"No way!" 

"It's those... _things_... again!" 

"What are we going to do?!" 

"Go!" Aragorn shouted as the Orcs came into range. He loosed an arrow, which slammed into the shoulder of and Orc, making it stumble. "Go!" 

"Where?!" Hikari wailed. 

"Doesn't matter!" Takeru shouted, "just _run_!" 

They didn't need any more convincing, and all of them were running before Takeru let his first arrow fly. Standing his ground, the blond reached for another arrow -- beside him, Aragorn was doing the same. On his other side, Gimli shouted something incoherent and raised his axe as the first of the Orcs reached them. 

"Shit!" Takeru swore, caught without a weapon. The bow might have been effective in long-range combat, but in close-range it was no good. He managed to parry the first blow with the spine of the bow, but had to fall back almost immediately. 

"Guilmon!" 

"_Fireball_!" 

Gasping, Takeru stumbled back from the inferno as the Orc that was closest to him exploded into flames. Looking back over his shoulder, the Child of Hope glared toward Takato and Guilmon, "what the hell do you think you're doing?! Get out of here while you still can!" 

"No way!" 

"_Go_!" 

"No!" 

"Takeru! Watch it!" 

"_FIREBALL_!" 

__

Shit... scrambling back again, Takeru managed to get to his feet in time to bump into Aragorn, who silently handed him a spare sword. He made a mental note to thank the Ranger later and leaped back into the fray, slashing the throat of the nearest Orc on his way toward Takato and his digimon. 

"Takato! Get out of here!" 

"Takatomon-" 

"We're not leaving you here!" 

"Damn it!" Grabbing the goggled-Tamer's wrist, Takeru half-kicked Guilmon's side to get him running. "Let's _go_!" He started to run, shoving Takato in front of him; "Aragorn! Gimli! _Come on_!" 

He made the assumption that they were following him as he ran, forcing Takato and Guilmon to run as well. Ahead of them, he could see the others racing for all they were worth, though they kept looking back... 

"Keep going!" 

Releasing Takato, Takeru shoved the sword into his hands and loaded his bow as if it was instinct. Three arrows were whirring toward the remaining Orc horde -- those that hadn't been cut down already -- before anyone could blink, then began to run alongside Takato again. 

"Aragorn! Come on! Gimli, move it!" 

"We can't keep running!" 

"What do _you_ suggest?! 

"There's nowhere to run to!" 

"If we fight we're finished!" 

"We've been in worse before!" 

__

He's got a point. Takeru had to concede, and despite the situation he began to grin. "So!" He reached to the side, yanking the sword from the Takato's hands (to the Tamer's confusion) and skidded to a stop. "Go, Takato!" 

"But-" 

A grim smile; "we'll be fine." Looking toward Aragorn, who had stopped only a foot in front of him and was holding his sword ready, he added, "right, Aragorn?" 

"Of course." 

"Let's kick some Orc ass!" Gimli roared, obviously in good spirits. 

Leave it to a Dwarf to enjoy a bloodbath -- Takeru shook his head, noting that Takato and Guilmon had finally decided to flee -- and took a deep breath. Behind him, he could hear Hikari and Taichi shouting to them to run... 

__

But we could run all day and they'd still catch up to us. All day... 

This was the problem with the half-breed Orcs that Saruman had created; they could move in sunlight, unlike the original Orcs, and travel faster and farther as well. And they were stronger. 

__

Not that they aren't strong already... well, here goes... 

The first Orc slammed into him at full-velocity, forcing him back a step. Growling, he pushed it back from him and slashed across it's throat with the tip of the sword. It gurgled and fell, but was immediately replaced with another. 

Beside him, Aragorn was managing to keep them back about as well as he was, and Gimli seemed to be doing better with his axe than they were with the swords; why? Maybe because the axe packed more of a punch. 

"Argh!" Grunting, Takeru winced, disgusted, when a spray of the black liquid that passed for the creature's blood splashed across the front of his shirt. Gritting his teeth, he wrenched the sword from it's throat, bracing his foot against it's stomach to push it away and turning to face the next one. 

As he was spinning, something slammed into his back and pain flared through his ribs. Snarling, he whirled -- the blade of the sword that had been stabbed into his side ripped out -- and thrust the blade of his sword into the Orc's chest. 

Stumbling back, he pulled his sword free and clamped a hand over the wound that was currently bleeding freely. 

__

Itai! Shit... that hurt... he winced, _oh well... I'll live..._

"Takeru! Behind you!" Aragorn swung his sword in Takeru's direction, and the blond dropped to the ground in time for the Ranger to slash through the neck of an Orc behind him. "Are you alright?" 

Nodding, the Child of Hope stood, already clashing with the next Orc. "I'm fine." 

"You're bleeding?" 

"Yes, among other things." Grunting, Takeru hacked though the arm of a final Orc, then spun and slashed with the sword, chopping it's head from it's shoulders in one sweep. It fell with a thump and he dropped his arms down again, almost losing his grip on the sword, and held his hand over his side again. "Ow..." 

"Takeru-" grabbing his shoulder, Gimli steadied him, "are you sure you're alright?" 

"Hm." He nodded, wincing. "Just a flesh wound." Chuckling, he added; "I always wanted to say that." 

Aragorn laughed; "you'd make a good Ranger, Takeru." 

"Maybe." 

"Certainly." Sighing, Aragorn patted his shoulder, "let's go." 

Almost half a mile away they managed to catch up with the others. Takeru sat down heavily, leaning on hit uninjured side and trying to catch his breath; Hikari was at his side in an instant, worriedly patching him up with strips of cloth from Aragorn's cloak (the Ranger had kindly donated it without question). 

"Hikari?" 

"Yeah?" 

"I'm glad you're my best friend." 

The girl smiled, "you're just glad I know first aid." 

"Thank God for Jou, ne?" 

"Yup." 

Takato, who was sitting, leaning against Guilmon, glared at him. "I _told_ you we should have stayed and fought!" 

"Nah." 

"You got hurt!" 

Stretching, the Child of Hope worked his arm and inspected the semi-bandage that Hikari had managed to make. "This looks great, Hikari." He grinned, standing, then addressed Takato; "there'll be more people hurt by the end of this, I'm sure, and probably worse than I am." 

"But-" 

"Listen, boy!" Gimli snapped, "you can't do anything without weapons and training!" 

"Guilmon's strong!" Takato protested, "we can fight!" 

"Takato," Lee sighed, "it wasn't a good time. Guilmon's good against digimon, but we've never fought against Orcs before." He smiled at his friend, "don't worry about it. Obviously they can handle themselves." 

"Obviously," Taichi repeated, eyeing Takeru, "you've certainly changed, Takeru." 

"Middle Earth made me grow up." He replied seriously, then grinned at his long-time friend. Picking up his sword again, he looked around at everyone else as he began to wipe the blade clean. "So I think we can safely say that these are the plains that Renamon was talking about." 

"Probably." Taichi agreed. 

"Weren't those pretty far away?" Merry asked doubtfully. 

"Yeah," Shuichon nodded, "but that's what Digital Fields do, right Jen?" 

Her brother made an agreeing noise. "They can transport digimon from one world to another, that's for sure. And apparently they can transport people between dimensions." He paused to think, then; "though I get the feeling it wasn't normal Field that brought us here." 

"And it wasn't a normal Field that scooped us up out of the school and dropped us in this field." Terriermon added. 

"Beautiful." Takeru turned to Aragorn; "can you figure out where we're headed? We need to find some shelter, and try to get in contact with the others. Hopefully we'll be able to get them over the D-Terminal." 

Aragorn nodded and gestured to Gimli. "We'll go scout. Stay here." 

"Good." A curt nod and the Child of Hope looked around again, "Taichi and Hikari, you stay here with Merry and Pippin, and Takato and Guilmon and try to catch the others on the Terminal. If we're lucky, Miyako and Ken-" he broke off, worry flashing through his mind at the thought of the blue-haired boy, then; "-if we're lucky, they're trying to get to us right now. Lee and Terriermon, and Iori and Shuichon, you guys are coming with me." 

"Um, where?" 

Takeru smirked. "We're going back to salvage what we can from those Orcs." 

Terriermon gaped. "Are you _kidding_?!" 

"No. They've got weapons and armor that we don't, and we could use it. My guess is that Aragorn and Gimli will tell us that fortress is over the rise the Orcs came from, and if we're going to be that close to their..." he searched for the word, "...base, then I want to be armed and protected, don't you?" 

"Yeah..." 

"So let's go." 

"Well," Lee laughed, "you heard him." 

Terriermon sniffed, pouting, and followed his Tamer.   


~*~*~*~*~*~  


Me: Whee! Another new chapter! When it rains, it pours! 

Terriermon: Don't be happy about it. _You_ got us stuck out here. 

Lee: Terriermon, behave. 

Terriermon: *sticks his tongue out* 

Me: ^_^ 

Hikari: Is Takeru going to be okay? 

Me: Of course! 

Taichi: He's a lot stronger than I remember. 

Me: You would be, too, had you been in his shoes in Middle Earth. 

Aragorn: The boy would make a good Ranger. 

Takeru: So you said...

Guilmon: My tail huuuurts! 

Takato: *pats his head* You'll be okay, boy. 

Me: *pats Guilmon's head, too* 

Shuichon: So what are we doing next? 

Iori: She won't tell you. 

Me: Hee, hee! ^^ 

Takeru: I want to know how the others are doing.... 

Gimli: *claps his back* You want to know how _Ken_ is doing! 

Takeru: Don't make me shoot you. 

Me: ^^;; 


	8. Chapter 8: Tomodachi

**Rating:** PG - PG-13

**Warnings:** [violence] [language] [het] [shounen-ai]

**Pairings:** Takeru/Ken, Ruki/Legolas, Daisuke/Juri, Lee/Takato, Ryo/Hikari & Iori/Shuichon

**Notes:** *dances* There! Are! None!

**Dedication:** DracoStarbo! Thank you for all your lovely reviews! I hope you keep reading, despite how long I took to update last time. ^^;; *hugs back* I love Aragorn, too! Everyone should love Aragorn! ^_~

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Disclaimer: Do I _look_ like I own Digimon or Lord Of The Rings? I didn't think so. :p 

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Digital

Chapter Eight: Tomodachi (Friend)  


"How's it going?" 

"Huh?" Miyako looked up, blinking at Ken, and pushed her glasses up with a sigh. Next to her, Juri tiredly leaned her back against the rock. "I think the digitization of the Field that brought us here might have done something to the D-Terminal." She shook her head, looking frustrated. "And aside from that, there seems to be something about the caves that's screwing with reception." 

"So that's a big 'not good'." Ken looked down. "Wonderful." 

"Sorry." 

A smile. "It's not your fault." Turning, the bluenette headed over to where Ruki was leaning against the wall; beside her, Legolas was still trying to fix her bow to a better standard. "No luck." He relayed, "Miyako thinks that something's interfering with the Terminal." 

"Fucking great." Ruki snorted, "so we're stuck here and we have to idea where the others are." 

"Uh-huh." Ken agreed, leaning against the wall next to her, "so what now?" 

Silence. The Child of Kindness closed his eyes and attempted to think things through, trying to get his thoughts past his worry for Takeru. He didn't like not knowing where the blond was or how he was doing. 

__

I think I hate Digital Fields. 

Sighing, he shook his head. Of course he was being silly -- how could he hate something as simple as an incoherent cloud of smoke? Still... it was a Field that had grabbed them all and dropped them who-knows-how-far away, in the mountains. 

"Mountains that didn't even exist yesterday..." 

"What was that?" Ruki asked. 

"Nothing." Ken pushed away from the wall and headed over to where Daisuke was sitting with Kazu and Kenta. "I'm going to check on your friend-" he ignored the annoyed snort that Ruki uttered at the mention of her 'friend', and sat down next to Kazu. "How're you doing?" 

The boy shrugged, "could be better, could be worse." 

"He's been whining ever since we got here." Kenta informed them. 

Ken chuckled and held his hand out. After a second, Kazu rolled his eyes and offered his arm; a makeshift bandage was wrapped around his forearm, covering a deep gash that ran from his wrist almost to his elbow. 

__

He'll be fine. 

Still, Ken was concerned enough to occasionally check on his new friend, though the wound wasn't getting worse by any means. Sam's bandaging skills were wonderful, so Kazu's healing was coming along nicely. 

__

Of all the places for that stupid Field to drop us, it had to be near a freaking Orc nest. 

The Digital Field had deposited them near the mountains, close to the Mordor-ish land that Renamon had seen in her explorations, and the first thing they had encountered was Orcs. They had managed to escape with their lives, and had taken shelter in the nearby mountain caves. The Orcs had trailed them for a while, but eventually given up. Obviously they hadn't been trying very hard. Stupid creatures. Not that Ken minded their laziness... 

"Looks good." Nodding, Ken let Kazu take his hand back. "You'll heal up and be fine." 

"Cool." 

"What about you, Ken?" Daisuke tilted his head to the side, stretching his arms up and clasping his hands behind his head. Nodding toward Ken, he motioned toward the bluenette's shoulder. "Are you okay?" 

The Child of Kindness glanced down; his shoulder -- ironically, the same one that had been injured on his prior visit to Middle Earth -- had been gashed during the fight, though it was nothing serious. Sam had bandaged him up as well, and he knew he'd make a full recovery. "Me?" A shrug. "Sure, nothing to worry about." 

"That's good." 

"Yeah." 

"So has Miyako come up with anything?" 

"Unfortunately, no. Something's wrong with the Terminal. She's still trying to fix it and get in contact with everyone else." Standing, he sighed, "anyway, I'm going to head out and see if the Orcs are anywhere near here. If they are I want to move farther back into the caves to avoid them. Or maybe leave the caves all together. I can't decide which." 

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Daisuke demanded, "you're going _out_?" 

"Hm. See you guys in a bit." 

"Wait-" 

Ignoring the redhead, Ken laughed to himself and exited the cave. Behind him, Daisuke's cursing echoed though the cavern, and after a moment, during which Ken stood and breathed in the fresh air, his friend stomped out after him. 

"Do you have a _death wish_?!" 

Ken grinned, "of course not." 

"Then _why_ are you out here?" 

The bluenette glanced at his friend, then motioned to the bow and arrows that were strapped to his back. "I'm fine. I'm just doing some scouting. I _was_ planning on going alone," he paused, then; "unless you want to come with me?" 

"Sure, I guess." 

A blink. He hadn't expected Daisuke to agree so readily. "Um, okay." Glancing around, he tried to decide which was to go, and eventually settled on the generality of 'right'. "C'mon Dai... just... keep up and try not to call too much attention to yourself." 

"Because..?" 

Ken sighed tolerantly. "If the Orcs find us this close to the cave, the others will be in trouble. Back there, there's only Ruki and Legolas who can fight... and Renamon, but I don't know where she is right now." 

"Scouting?" Daisuke ventured. 

"Hm." Ken agreed, "probably. That's what she likes to do... she might even be looking for Takeru and the others." Shaking his head, he suppressed a worried frown. "I can only hope she finds them." 

"You know," the redhead beside him observed, "I'm sure Takeru's fine, Ken." 

"Huh?" 

"Well, I'm just saying...." he held a finger up for emphasis, "if _we_ ended up being dropped with, you know, Ruki and Legolas and Kazu and Kenta and everyone, then the chances are that the others are together, too, right?" 

"Um..." 

"Come on!" Exasperated, he threw his hands into the air, his voice raising; "just work with me! We were probably dropped in two groups... I dunno' why... but if that's what's happened, then Takeru'll be with... well, that Aragorn guy, and the Dwarf, and Takato and Lee have their digimon with them too, so..." 

"I think I get the point." 

Daisuke grinned, "hell, Aragorn looks like he could take a whole army out by himself!" 

"That he does... and probably has..." 

Shock. "What?!" 

"Nothing, nothing." Another sigh. "You're right Dai." 

"Anyway, see, I figure they're probably better off than _we_ are!" 

"I wouldn't go that far." Ken laughed, enjoying the feeling. He'd forgotten how Daisuke's pointless banter could always lighten a situation. _And God knows it's annoying sometimes, but I'm glad for it now._ He put his thoughts on hold and glances around; they had come to a hill of sorts, which looked out over the land. "Well..." 

Daisuke followed his gaze. 

Trees, and the occasional patch of prairie grass, were all that could be seen for what had to be miles in every direction. Behind them, the hill continued up into the mountains (in which their hiding-cave was situated) and in front of them, it sloped down toward a tiny valley, the floor of which was covered with a white mist. 

Nothing else. 

Tokyo was _definitely_ different. 

"I think we're fucked." 

Ken sighed and glanced at his friend, "it certainly looks that way." 

"So... what are we supposed to do now?" 

"I have no idea." The Child of Kindness rubbed a temple and started down the hill, "I'm wondering about that valley, though. I think I'm going to head down and see what's there." 

"Besides smoke?" 

"It's mist, Dai." 

"Mist, then." 

"Yeah, besides that." 

"Ah." 

There was silence for a while as they walked, Ken taking the lead (which was somewhat odd considering who he was with) and Daisuke following close behind. The redhead was surprisingly fleet-of-foot, not making much noise at all. Ken had to marvel at it -- Daisuke had never been so graceful before. 

Maybe it was because he knew they were in dangerous territory. 

__

Well, he HAS grown up a bit since our Digital World escapades, too- 

"Ahh!" 

Crashing, and Ken turned just in time to catch Daisuke, who was in the process of falling flat on his face. He steadied the other boy, then shook his head while Dai sheepishly brushed loose leaves from his clothes and straightened his jacket. 

"Oops." 

__

Then again... he couldn't help but giggle, "are you okay?" 

"Sure." A weak laugh, "I was just... testing your reflexes." 

"Yeah?" 

"Yup." Daisuke grinned. "They're fine." 

"That's good." Pausing, Ken caught a sound on the wind and gestured for silence. "Shh. Listen..." after a few tense seconds, he was still unable to identify it, and the goggled-boy beside him was beginning to get annoyed. Ken pursed his lips and frowned, "it doesn't sound like Orcs, at least. Probably a deer or something." 

"I don't hear anything." 

The bluenette gestured to his pointed elf-ears, "remember?" 

"Oh yeah." 

Ken chuckled and started forward again, continuing toward the valley floor below. Daisuke jogged a few steps to keep up, then paced beside him, looking like he was deep in thought. Surprise must have showed on Ken's face -- Dai was _never_ pensive -- but if it did, he didn't say anything, and Ken chose not to bring it up. 

"Say, Ken, what's it like being an Elf?" 

"Being an Elf?" He echoed. 

"Hm." The Child of Courage and Friendship agreed, "isn't it weird?" 

"...no..." Ken considered, then; "it seems... right... to me. But, I spend a good six months as an Elf before, so I'm used to it. But the thing is, when I first got turned into one, I didn't feel strange about it then either." 

"How come?" 

A shrug. "I don't know, really." 

"What about Takeru?" 

"He didn't seem too bothered by it." 

"Oh." Daisuke wrinkled his nose. "Is it anything special? Do you have superpowers and stuff?" 

"And stuff?" Ken chuckled, "no, but Elves seem to have a particular talent when it comes to archery, and both Takeru and I, as well as Ruki, inherited that. We also had more stamina-" Dai opened his mouth and Ken cut him off before he could make a crude comment about _that_, "-when it came to the journey, Dai! We could walk farther and travel more before having to rest, and we were stronger." 

"Sounds cool." 

"Yes, but... there were down sides." 

The goggled-redhead looked confused; "like what?" 

"We can't cry." 

A blink. "What?" 

"We can't cry." Ken repeated, his eyes on the ground, "even when Gandalf..." swallowing, he shook his head, "never mind." 

"Who... who's Gandalf?" 

Ken gave him a weak smile, "he's... _was_... a friend in Middle Earth. He died saving us all from the Balrog... a demon... in the Mines or Moria. We saw him... yanked from the bridge... and swallowed up by the Earth..." taking a breath, he waved his hand, "in any case, he's gone now." 

"And you couldn't cry?" 

"Not until we were human again." 

Dai was quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry." 

"No problem." Ken assured him, "it's not your fault. You didn't know." 

"Yeah..." 

They were both silent for a time, Ken lost in memories of Gandalf, the quest, and the others, and even of Boromir, whom they now knew hadn't made it. Daisuke was simply contemplating what his friend had said, working it through in his mind. 

They continued to walk. 

It took them about a half an hour more to make the trek (though it wasn't much of one, compared to what Ken had been through before) to their destination. Silence echoed through the forest, only broken occasionally by the call of a bird (an eagle, once) or by the snapping of twigs as the two boys walked. 

Daisuke slipped three more times, but only actually _fell_ once. 

"This sucks." He whined finally, rubbing his elbow and pouting childishly. "I like my bed and my house and... and I don't like this stupid forest! It's just trees and rocks and dirt, and there could be those fucking Orcs anywhere!" 

"Complaining won't get us home," Ken pointed out logically, suppressing a smirk; "so suck it up, or whatever the saying is." Pausing, he added; "you don't see me complaining about my shoulder, do you?" 

"But you're some kind of super-kid!" 

Ken sighed, "two things are wrong with that sentence. One, that was all because of the Spore, and it's inactive now, and two... I'm not a kid anymore, remember?" He eyed Daisuke, who was still rubbing his arm with a pathetic look on his face. "And neither are you, Dai! I mean, after all we went through in the Digital World, you're going to let a scraped elbow get to you?" 

"It _huuuurts_!" 

"You'll never accomplish anything with an attitude like that." Ken pointed out, "be tough to achieve your dreams." 

"What does that have to do with anything?" Dai demanded, "and what does being tough have to do with owning a noodle cart with V-mon? I can be as much of a wimp as I want, and still sell great noodles! You're making no sense!" 

"Am I?" Ken smiled, "maybe so, but you've forgotten about your elbow, haven't you?" 

"I -- fine. Shut up." 

The Child of Kindness was about to say something in reply, when his ears began to pick up a sound... the same sound as before, actually. He still couldn't identify it, though, and as he motioned for Daisuke to be quiet again, he strained to hear it better. 

It sounded like... 

...footsteps, maybe? 

__

There's someone out there... in the valley? Maybe... that seems to be where it's coming from. 

"What is it?" 

Ken's lips thinned and he gestured for Daisuke to stay low. "I'll be back. I have to check on something." 

"Something? What's something?" 

"Just stay here!" 

"Okay, okay..." 

Crouching a bit, the now-Elf crept forward, his ears tuned for anything out of the ordinary. The footsteps -- and he was sure, now, that's what they were -- had stopped, though the shuffling of feet against the grass of the valley remained. 

__

And I hear... voices? Yes, yes I think I hear voices. Whispering, but they're there. So who-? at the same time as his mind was working that out, he was realizing that the fog which coated the valley floor was all too familiar. _Another Digital Field, I think... what... is going... on..?_

He was halfway into the tiny valley, waist deep and lost in the fog of the Field, when something grabbed onto him from behind, pinning his arms to his sides and holding him in place. Growling in his ear... 

"Ahh!" 

Daisuke's voice, echoing from the forest, "Ken! Are you alright?!" 

Growling, still... 

__

It's okay... breathe, breathe... I'm not dead... I'm not dead... yet... 

"_Ken_!" 

Crashing sounds, and he knew that Dai was coming toward him. 

"Dai, stay-!" 

The growling grew in volume, and he cut off his sentence. 

__

Please, Dai, stay where I told you to! 

"Ken! What's going – _ahh! What the flying fuck is that_?!" 

A snarl, and whatever was holding Ken threw him to the side, whirling on the redheaded boy who had come up behind them; Ken landed with a thump and was instantly on his feet, his mind racing through the options... 

...Orcs? No, it was too bright out... 

...Goblins? No, it was too subtle... 

It certainly wasn't a Balrog. 

Right..? 

"Dai!" 

"Ahh!" 

The creature that was lurking between him and Daisuke was familiar -- dragonish with long claws and an angry snarl. It's eyes narrowed and flicked toward Ken before focusing again on Daisuke, who was cowering on the ground, having fallen backward in his haste to scramble away. 

__

I need to... Ken reached for his bow, unslinging it and locking an arrow in a single movement. Readying himself, he closed one eye and prepared to launch the arrow, even as the creature was reaching for his friend. _One, two-_

Then- 

"Cyberdramon! Stop it!" 

__

What-? 

The creature snarled, and whip of red snaked from the fog to lash around it's arm, pulling it back from Dai. A second later, it had (grudgingly, and growling the whole time) stepped back, and a figure emerged from the fog beyond Ken. 

"Down!" 

The boy seemed about their age, with short brown hair and kind eyes. In his hand he held a D-Power that was similar to Ruki's, only a different color. He looked from Ken to the creature in front of them... a digimon, it seemed... and then toward Daisuke before turning back to the dragon-ish thing. 

"De-Evolve! Now!" 

A disgruntled snarl, and a flash of light and it shrunk... 

"Dai! Are you okay?!" 

The goggled-boy groaned and stood shakily, casting wary glances toward the now-smaller and purple-colored digimon. "I... think so." He looked past Ken to the other boy, "who the hell are you?!" 

The other boy regarded Daisuke, then turned his eyes to Ken. 

A glimmer of recognition, and Ken frowned. _I... know him..? _

"Well?!" Daisuke demanded. 

"Well," he repeated, "I'm Ryo Akiyama, and this is my partner, Monodramon."   


~*~*~*~*~*~

Me: Hm. Not too pleased with this chapter. 

Ruki: Me neither! WHY does _Ryo_ have to be here?! 

Me: Um, because I like Ryo? 

Ruki: *mutters about him being an egotistical jerk* 

Me: ^^;; 

Daisuke: Why's he familiar to Ken? 

Me: Oh! That's because I'm using the idea that he used to traverse the Digi World with Ken before Ken became the Digimon Kaiser. *whispers* (In case anyone's confused, Ryo appeared briefly in Digimon 02, during the sand-storm scene in Ken's flashback. He used to travel the Digital World with Ken. His partner was a V-mon, and he was Ken's Jogress Evolution/DNA Digivolving partner before Daisuke. I believe there's a video game about that as well, but I could be wrong...) 

Daisuke: What was that? 

Me: Oh, nothing! 


	9. Chapter 9: Seiko

**Rating:** PG - PG-13

**Warnings:** [violence] [language] [het] [shounen-ai]

**Pairings:** Takeru/Ken, Ruki/Legolas, Daisuke/Juri, Lee/Takato, Ryo/Hikari & Iori/Shuichon

**Notes:** Eek! ^^ Guess who went and saw Two Towers on opening night yesterday and totally came away inspired! *dances* lol. Anyway, (this is in my profile, too, but I'm saying it here too) I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone, so I narrowed what I want to say down to two things: 

1) Does Legolas know how to mount a horse-in-motion or WHAT?! Whoo! 

2) THE TREES KICKED ISENGARD ASS!! 

****

Dedication: Syenite Kai! You're back! *throws confetti* I lost some of my old reviewers when I took _forever_ to update, so I'm happy to hear from you again! *glomps* 

****

Disclaimer: ...I don't own Digimon or-- ah, who cares?! Everyone knows this already!

****

Digital

Chapter Nine: Seiko (Success)  


The salvage of weapons and armor from the Orcs had gone relatively well, Takeru decided, though not as well as he would have liked. He, as well as Lee, Terriermon, Iori and Shuichon, had managed to scavenge enough of the daggers (they would have taken swords, but the Orcs that Saruman had bred were large enough that their swords were too large for most of the Chosen and or Tamers to pick up, never mind use) for everyone to have something to defend themselves. 

Takeru had also sound a couple of 'smaller' swords that he thought he and Aragorn could handle. Shields were right out of the question, but Takeru had found several bows that were better than his own. After picking through them, he had taken the best ones and assigned Taichi, Iori and Lee each one to carry. 

They couldn't use them, of course, but at least they could carry them and they meant they had extra in case something happened and they were needed. 

Takeru then traded his 'crappy Earth-made bow' for a new one, and gathered as many quivers of arrows as he could. These, lighter and easier to carry than the bows themselves, were distributed between the rest of the group. Hikari, Shuichon, Merry, Pippin and Takato each carried one, and they managed to strap three onto Guilmon. 

Lee had to stop Terriermon from cracking jokes about Guilmon becoming a pack horse several times. 

According to Shuichon's watch, the entire thing -- organized by Takeru -- took about a half hour. The Child of Hope could barely contain his amazement at the speed that the others worked. Of course, the fact that none of them were too keen on pawing through the dead Orcs might have had something to do with it. Whatever it was, Takeru wasn't complaining. 

While the salvage was going on, Taichi and Hikari had been trying to get their D-Terminals to work well enough to contact the others (God knows where they were) or the digimon, all of whom were currently in the Digital World. 

They'd had minimal luck, though. 

Now, they were all seated near an outcropping of rock they'd found about two miles from where they had been, discussing what could be done. Both Guilmon and Terriermon had fallen asleep shortly after finding their now-meeting place, and Aragorn and Gimli were absent, still off scouting the area. 

__

Which is dangerous, given the current situation. Sighing, Takeru had to remind himself that the Ranger and the Dwarf were perfectly capable of defending themselves, and turned his attention back to the conversation at hand. Taichi was saying something about the D-Terminal... 

"-but I was thinking that if we hooked _one_ terminal up to a D3 directly, and shut all the other Terminals off so they aren't using up energy, we might be able to get it to work." Taichi looked around, "what do you guys think?" 

Lee frowned, thinking. "If your Terminals really are constantly using power from your D3s, then it's a good idea. Turning off the other Terminals would cut the leeching of energy at least in half, if not more, and that's just more power toward the one that's still running." 

"Exactly." 

Iori nodded, "it's worth a try. What do we have to lose?" 

"That's a good point." 

"Yeah..." 

There was a momentary shuffling of D-Terminals, and then Taichi hooked his up, borrowing Hikari's D3 -- he, as an original Chosen, didn't have one -- and they all held their breath, waiting as he pressed the power button. 

"Here goes nothing." 

The light blinked. 

Once. 

Twice. 

It was on. 

"Alright!" Takato cheered, "it worked!" 

For the first time since arriving on the plains, they were all smiling and laughing. Taichi hurried to type in chat addresses, hoping that he could contact someone. And he did. After a moment, Miyako's voice came through Hikari's D3 and her image appeared on the screen of the D-Terminal. 

"_Ahh_!" She shrieked, then, looking up and to someone else; "you guys! You guys it's _working_!" 

"What?" 

A jumble of voices and moving bodies could be heard, and the others all crowded around Miyako. Hikari and Iori were looking over Taichi's shoulder, too, and Takato, Merry and Pippin were on their way to do the same. Lee and Shuichon showed no intention of moving, though they listened carefully. 

Takeru closed his eyes and leaned back against the rock. He was happy, yes, that they could contact the others now, but his side was hurting and he was tired. Being an Elf meant a lot of things were different about him, but he still felt pain and it had been a long day. 

"Oh my God!" Miyako was gushing, "we've been trying to reach you since, you know, the Digital Field! How did you get your Terminal to _work_?!" 

"We turned all the other Terminals off and hooked it directly to Hikari's D3." Iori explained, "you should do the same." 

"Yeah, I -- hey!" Miyako shouted, annoyed, when Ruki leaned over and snatched the D-Terminal from her hands. "You could have _asked_, you know!" 

"Hn." Ruki snorted, then; "let me talk to Takeru." 

Taichi looked surprised, but called over to the blonde. "Um, Ruki wants to talk to you." 

Takeru cracked an eye open and held out his hand with a sigh. Taichi handed the Terminal over and he gave Ruki a flat look. "We don't know for sure where we are," he told her, before she could even ask, "but I think we're in the plains that Renamon was telling us about earlier. Aragorn and Gimli are scouting right now to tell us for sure. You?" 

"Mountains. Who've you got?" 

"Taichi, Hikari, Iori, Shuichon, Lee, Takato, their digimon, Merry, Pippin, Aragorn, Gimli and myself. What about you?" 

"Ken, Daisuke, Kazu, Kenta, Juri, Renamon, Miyako, Legolas, Frodo, Sam, Monodramon and Ryo." 

"Monodramon and Ryo?" 

"It's a long story. You don't know them." 

"Ah." 

Ruki nodded, "we ran into some Orcs shortly after we were dropped here, but we managed to escape. Right now the lot of us are holed up in a cave partway up one of the mountains. Renamon's off doing her exploring thing." 

"Any injuries?" 

"No-" 

"Hey!" Kazu called, interrupting, "that's _so_ not true!" 

Ruki glared irritably, "okay, _fine_. No _serious_ ones, though by Kazu's whining you'd think he was dying. He's got a gash on his arm and Ken's shoulder's a bit cut up but that's all." She paused, then; "what about you? You don't look great." 

"My side." Takeru said my way of an explanation. "You ran into Orcs, too? I'm starting to think this was planned..." 

"By the Field?" Ruki asked sarcastically, "you're fucking kidding me, right? Could you _be_ more of an idiot?!" 

"Oh stop it! You are such a bitch!" He snapped this in annoyance, but in reality he didn't mean what he said. He still referred to her as a bitch, but really he had to admit that they were friends. "Of course I meant by a _person_! Hell, we don't know what's going on at all, do we? Anyone could be behind this." 

"Behind _what_?" Ruki demanded. 

"Ruki," Ken's voice said calmly, though he bluenette couldn't be seen on the Terminal screen; "let him talk already." 

"Well he's making _no sense_!" 

"You're not helping!" 

Takeru groaned, then glanced over toward the others when Merry and Pippin began to snicker. The others looked almost stricken, but the Hobbits had seen Ruki and the Child of Hope duke it out before. They found it funny, of course. 

"Here, let me have the Terminal." After a second Ruki handed it over to Ken and the blue-haired boy shook his head as she muttered under her breath. "Takeru, we're alright for now but I think we need to get back together. I don't like us being separated like this. We should focus on that and then figure out what's happening after." 

The blonde hesitated, but had to agree with Ken. "Yeah, I guess." 

"Alright, so what do we do?" 

A sigh. "I have no idea. I don't even know how far away we are from you." 

A blink of yellow and Renamon appeared beside Takeru without even a 'poof', stating; "far." 

This time it wasn't just the Child of Hope that jumped -- everyone else made less than dignified squeaks and shouts of surprise as well -- and they all stared at her in shock. The fox-like digimon simply looked down at Takeru flatly, then flicked her eyes toward the D-Terminal in his hands. 

"Fuck!" Takeru snapped, "what the hell do you think you're doing?!" 

"You're far away." Renamon repeated, ignoring his question. "Getting here took me quite some time." 

"Thanks for that." Lee sighed, shaking his head. 

"Renamon!" Ken's voice came through the Terminal, sounding surprised. He looked toward Ruki. "What's she doing there?" 

"How should I know?!" 

"Look," Iori said, interrupting before another argument could break out, "let's focus for a minute. What are we going to do?" 

Silence. 

Frustration welled up in Takeru and he ground his teeth together in anger. Not being able to do something bothered him to no end, and he felt helpless -- not to mention _pointless_ -- just sitting there. 

__

I should have gone with Aragorn and Gimli. 

He had just been thinking they were stupid for going, because of the danger, and now he wished he was with them... 

"You probably won't be able to reach each other in this world," Renamon told them finally, "it would take you months to traverse the terrain between you." 

"Well, what do you suggest?" Kazu demanded through the Terminal. 

"What I suggest," the digimon replied slowly, "is that you all find a way to get into the Digital World." Turning to Taichi, she regarded him flatly. "Tell me. From what I know of your world, there are Portals to your Digital World through every computer, are there also Portals all over the Digital World?" 

Taichi nodded, "yes." 

"Then, can you choose where you appear in the Digital World?" 

Again. "Yes." 

Renamon gestured with a paw; "then find a computer terminal. Everyone goes to the same out-port, and you're all back together. Simple, really." 

"Yeah, sure." Takato looked confused. "Simple." 

"There's only one problem with that," Daisuke pointed out. They couldn't see the redhead, but his voice echoed loudly in the cave the others were hiding in. "Um, we're kind of in a cave in the middle of nowhere. Where are we going to get a computer?" 

Again, silence. 

__

Good point, Dai. 

"Could Renamon," Aragorn's voice said, and Takeru turned to glance at the Ranger, who was standing a few yards away with Gimli beside him; "not find a computer... and bring it here? And to the others?" 

"When did you get back?" Shuichon wondered, blinking. 

"A moment ago." 

"Um, oh." 

"You know," Miyako spoke up; "they'd have to laptop computers... with battery packs and everything... but he might be right. Could she do that, Ruki?" 

"Of course." Ruki responded nonchalantly, "Renamon?" 

Renamon nodded. "Yes." 

As she vanished again, Takeru turned his attention back to the D-Terminal. "Alright, we've got a plan." 

"So we stay in the caves and Renamon brings the computer to us." A voice Takeru didn't recognize stated. He assumed it was Ryo. "Sounds simple enough." 

"You'd think." Ken sighed, "but we didn't have much luck with caves in Middle Earth..." 

"What?" 

"Nothing." The bluenette gave a weak smile, which Takeru returned. "We'll wait. Keep in touch." 

A nod, and Takeru continued to stare at the Terminal for a split second after the image screen blinked off, then quickly handed it back to Taichi, who pocketed it along with Hikari's D3. Standing, he turned to look at Aragorn -- the Ranger met his gaze grimly, and Takeru could only assume he and Gimli had bad news for them. 

"Well?" 

Aragorn considered, then; "we found no signs of civilization in the directions we went, with the exception of what looked like-" he hesitated, then, "-a fortress... near the edge of the plain. I believe the Orcs we fought came from there. We are dangerously close to it, and should move away." 

Takeru eyed the man warily. There was something he wasn't telling them. 

"So we _are_ near one of the Orc nests." Merry stated. 

"Hm," Aragorn agreed, "we should travel now, to distance ourselves, and sleep by night." 

"Orcs are nocturnal, aren't they?" Iori asked, then when everyone stared at him; "I read about them once in a fantasy book." 

"Normally true," Aragorn told him, "but the Orcs we've encountered were manufactured by Saruman, and can travel during the day as well as at night, as you've seen." 

"Oh." 

"So," Takeru pursed his lips. "We travel now and sleep at night so at least we have the cover of darkness." 

"Yes. Can Renamon find us if we move?" 

"I should think so," Lee told them, "she's talented." 

"We saw." Merry nodded. 

Pippin looked at Aragorn; "she found us every time in Middle Earth." 

"That she did." Gimli laughed. 

"Alright, then." Takeru slung his bow -- which had been sitting on the ground beside him -- over his shoulder, and turned toward the horizon. His eyes skimmed across the pains between it and them, and he started forward. "Let's go." 

The walking was hard-going, especially for Hikari, and after a while Taichi ended up half-carrying her. After so many years, she was still relatively frail, and the last few hours had been tough on her. Takeru watched, wishing there was something he could do, but with nothing but grass from where they were out into the middle of nowhere and beyond, there was no shelter in sight. 

__

And I want to keep going until we can find SOME kind of shelter for the night, but at this rate... 

"Takeru!" A hand clapped across his back and he stumbled forward, propelled by the force behind Gimli's friendly blow. Rolling his eyes, he turned to look at the Dwarf, continuing to walk backward. Gimli grinned and waved a gloved hand toward the front of their group, "Aragorn wants to have a word with you, lad." 

Takeru couldn't help grinning back, and paused only long enough to say "thanks" before sprinting up to where Aragorn was walking. The Ranger had taken the lead, mostly because he was the leading type, but also because he and Gimli _had_ scouted around a bit, so he had a more accurate grasp of the terrain than anyone else. 

"Aragorn!" 

The Ranger turned to look at him. "Takeru... Gimli told you I wished to speak with you?" 

"Yes." Takeru frowned, concerned by the man's grim look. "What's going on?" After a pause, he continued with; "this is about that fortress Renamon mentioned, isn't it?" 

Aragorn nodded, "I'm afraid I was not altogether forthcoming when I told you what Gimli and I had found." He glanced over his shoulder at the Dwarf, who was conversing rowdily with Iori and Shuichon, "the fortress... is no ordinary one." Dark eyes flicked back to Takeru. "I'm afraid we've come dangerously close to a section of... what used to be... Isengard." 

"_What_?!" Takeru demanded, his voice rising loudly. 

Behind them, Gimli stopped speaking abruptly and silence reigned from the others as Takeru grabbed Aragorn's arm. The Ranger stopped walking and looked at him. There was a long pause, and then Takeru released his arm. 

"What do you mean," the blonde grated out, "by a _section_ of Isengard?" 

"What we saw was not truly Isengard." Aragorn replied, lowering his voice, "the White Tower itself was not there. What we did see was part of Saruman's underground fortress, built by the Orcs and his other followers. The entrance, really, but we can assume it was there." 

"So what you're saying is that we're two fucking miles away from Saruman's _army_?!" 

"Possibly, yes." Aragorn glanced back the way they had come. The others were continuing to stare, surprised by the almost-altercation that was taking place. "Which is why we must make haste to leave these parts." 

"Shit." Takeru was silent. _We might be in more trouble than I first thought-_

His thoughts were interrupted by a semi-howl that sounded more like a roar, and he spun, looking past everyone and out to the plains. Beside him, Aragorn's hand had gone to his sword and the weapon was out and ready. 

The Ranger's eyes narrowed. 

Across the fields, black shaped were bounding toward them. Faster than even Saruman's Orcs could go, Takeru knew. Whatever they were, they were big, fast, most likely strong, and they sounded angry. 

"What..." the Child of Hope began, "the _hell_..." 

"-is _that_..?" Takato finished for him. 

Aragorn took a step forward. "Wolf-riders!" 

"Wolf-_what_?!" Shuichon wondered. 

"You don't want to know, missy," Gimli told her, pushing both her and Iori to move. "Just go." 

"Aragorn, what the hell-?!" 

"These," Aragorn told Takeru flatly, "we cannot defeat like this." 

"But what-" 

"Don't ask... just _run_!" 

Whatever the hell was happening, they could find out later. 

They ran.   


~*~*~*~*~*~

Me: ^^ Whoo! Two Towers rocks! The best part is that I was planning on using a bunch of the things (like the Wolf-riders, for example) from the 2nd book anyway! This just gives me a better idea of how to write them. 

Treebeard: *taps my shoulder* 

Me: Eep! 0_0;; 

Treebeard: I believe... you called... us _trees_... in your introduction? 

Me: ^^;; Ents! I meant Ents! 

Merry: There _is_ a difference, you know. 

Pippin: That was a silly mistake you made, there. 

Merry: Really, mixing Ents up with trees... 

Me: *glares* Shut up already! I know, I know! And you did it too! 

Merry: Well that was rude... 

Pippin: Really. 


	10. Chapter 10: Shi

**Rating:** PG - PG-13

**Warnings:** [violence] [language] [het] [shounen-ai]

**Pairings:** Takeru/Ken, Ruki/Legolas, Daisuke/Juri, Lee/Takato, Ryo/Hikari & Iori/Shiuchon

****

Notes: Would you believe that my non-existent dog ate them? 

**Disclaimer:** One, two, three! All together now! Senashenta doesn't own Digimon or Lord Of The Rings! Not Takeru or Ken or Ruki or Legolas or Aragorn or Gimli (though I'd kill to own most of them!) or- 

****

Digital

Chapter 10: Shi (Death)  


Something poked his ear. 

Ken waved it away absently. 

Something poked his ear again. 

Ken waved it away absently. 

Something poked- 

"Daisuke!" Ken snapped, glaring at his long-time friend and Jogress partner, "will you cut that out already?!" 

The redhead shrugged and poked at the point on Ken's ear once more. "It's just so cool." 

Ken sighed, "Dai!" 

Across the cave, Legolas gave a half-smile and continued working; after doing what he could with Ruki's bow, he had immediately set to work on Ken's. Now, still holed up in the mountainside, Ruki was standing, leaning against the rock wall with the blond Elf sitting on the ground next to her. Ken was currently seated with Kazu and Kenta, and, of course, Daisuke, who continued to- 

"Seriously!" Ken smacked Dai's hand away for what seemed like the millionth time, and turned a raised eyebrow when Legolas... laughed? "What do you find so funny?" 

"Nothing, or course." Legolas replied softly, continuing with what he was doing. 

"Personally," Miyako called from where she was seated, across the cave from Ken and with Juri beside her, "I find the Elf ears cute," pausing, she continued, giving Ruki a sly look; "don't you agree, Ruki?" 

Flatly. "I hadn't noticed." 

But Ken noted with some amusement that her eyes flicked toward Legloas as she said it. The Elf didn't seem to notice, though. Shaking his head, Ken glanced over at Miyako, who grinned, and then- 

"Dai! _Stop_!" 

"Okay, okay." The goggled-boy chuckled and sat back, crossing his arms behind his head and stretching his legs out in front of him. "So how long do we have to sit our asses here? No offense, but I'm not exactly used to hiding." 

"Yeah, well," Ken shook his head, "there's not much we can do until Renamon brings us that computer." 

"I'm still," Legolas spoke up, "unclear on the concept of a 'computer'." 

"Uh..." Juri smiled hesitantly, "they're kind of complicated." 

"Hm." The Elf agreed easily, not one to raise trouble. "Perhaps you, Ruki, could explain them to me at a later time?" 

The Tamer shrugged, "sure, why not?" 

__

Cute. 

Across the cave, Miyako smirked and Juri giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. Ken could only meet Frodo's gaze as he and Sam grinned over at him. The two of them found Ruki and Legolas' almost-relationship as amusing as he did. 

Ryo was watching the two -- who were still nonchalantly going about their own business -- in silence, with a half-confused and partially-concerned look on his face. 

__

When Ryo showed up, I figured there was something with him and Ruki. Strange, but despite her attitude she was just... TOO ticked off when Dai and I brought him and Monodramon back with us. It made him wonder, but he didn't want to dwell on it, and- 

"Dai!" Ken's thoughts were cut off suddenly and he smacked Daisuke away again, exasperated; "will you quit it?! That has got to be the most annoying thing you've ever decided to be obsessed with doing!" 

Daisuke laughed and settled back again. "Sorry, man. It's just too much fun. I had to do it one more time. Seriously, I'll stop now." Pausing, he stared at Ken for a moment before leaning forward and flicking the blue-haired boy's ear again, snickering. "It's just so cool! Man, I want to be an Elf, too." 

Ken groaned. 

"Hn." Ruki raised an eyebrow and spoke dryly; "would you like me to shoot him for you?" 

"What was that?" Dai asked blankly. 

Ken laughed, "no, Ruki, but thanks anyway." 

"Yeah," Kazu added; "if it comes down to it, I'm sure Ken'd much rather do it himsel- _ow_!" Rubbing his arm where Daisuke had punched him (the redhead had kindly avoided his injured arm for that) Kazu pouted, "jeez, Chumly, I was only joking." 

"Sure you were." This was Kenta, who was currently playing rock-paper-scissors with Monodramon. 

The digimon was winning. 

Ryo, who was standing by the cave entrance, seemed to be listening for something. 

Ken tilted his head to the side curiously, "what is it, Ryo?" 

The brunet glanced toward him. "Listen." 

Immediately, Legolas glanced up, already training his Elven ears to filter out the normal sounds. Ken was doing much the same, and Ruki seemed to be even tenser than she had been, if it was possibly. 

"What-?" 

Blue eyes narrowed as Legolas frowned slightly, "I hear nothing." 

"Exactly." Ryo stated. "No birds, no animals, no insects..." 

"So?" Daisuke asked, "what's it matter if it's quiet?" 

"Too quiet." Ken told him, "there's always noise in a forest. Complete silence means there's something wrong." 

"Oh." 

"What could it be?" Sam wondered, "the Orcs again?" 

"Maybe," the Child of Kindness stood and moved to where Ryo was standing. "But Orcs are loud. There would be some noise from them, if not from the animals." 

"You're being paranoid." Kazu snorted. 

"Shut up." Ruki snapped dryly. "Just be quiet for a _minute_, okay?" 

"Aw, come on..." 

They were all quiet, though, as if sensing the tension from Ryo and those of their party who had the Elven hearing; Monodramon swiftly made his way to his Tamer's side to stare out across the trees below the cave opening. 

Seconds ticked by, feeling like longer. 

Still there was nothing from the forest beyond. 

Silence. 

Wind and leaves shifting in it. 

__

There's something, though... even with the aid of Elf hearing, Ken had to strain his ears to pick up the faint sounds. _What..? Footsteps... almost... scratching? It sounds like scratching. But... it's not coming from... it's... coming from..._ frowning in concentration, he turned to look back into the cave. 

Scratching... 

__

There are more cave systems farther into the mountain. Not as grand as Moria, but somewhat like that. 

Upon finding the cave and making the decision to stay in it, Ken and Legolas had made a quick trip into the farther caves to assure their safety while Ruki remained with the others. The tunnels had been empty, hence their staying. 

__

But now... his lips thinned and his eyes flicked to Ruki. "Ruki, you hear that, right?" 

Ruki didn't reply, but her gaze moved to the back of the cave. 

"There's something in here with us." Legolas murmured. 

"What is it?" Juri asked, sounding worried. 

"I know not." The Elf told her, standing. With inhuman grace and silence he paced over and handed the bow he had been working on back to Ken. "You may be needing this." 

Ken nodded. 

"Shall we go and see?" 

The bluenette looked to Ruki; "can you watch them, again?" 

"Fine." 

She sounded almost annoyed. Not that Ken was surprised by it, as Ruki almost always sounded annoyed. She would probably have rather gone along with them, but Ken was more familiar with the Earth part of the world they were in than she would be, and Legolas was the resident expert on Middle Earth, so they were a good pair to go. Aside from that (and something that he would never have told her) Ken preferred to leave her to defend Frodo and the Ring. 

__

I don't know what Takeru was talking about, but from what he says the Ring has a pull on me... 

He didn't entirely understand it, but he trusted Takeru's judgement. Besides, Ruki was a pain in the ass, but she was tough as nails and would fight like a bitch to keep both Frodo and the Ring out of enemy hands, whether Renamon was with her or not. 

__

She has a strong sense of justice. 

"Well," Ken gripped his bow, "let's go." 

This time, Daisuke didn't follow him as he and Legolas made their way back into the smaller system of caves, deeper in the mountainside. For his safety, Ken was glad that the Child of Courage and Friendship knew when to stay out of things. 

"I'm also glad for the Elf eyes." This was muttered under his breath, a comment on the dimness of the farther caves, but still Legolas glanced at him. 

"At times like this," he said, just as quietly, "so am I." 

Ken gave a distracted smile, his steps slowing. Both he and Legolas stopped; they were only a dozen yards into the deeper cave system, and already the scratching was becoming louder. Really, it was more of a scraping sound, now... 

"Digging, perhaps?" Legolas ventured. 

Ken frowned. When they had explored before they hadn't found many open passageways. Most of what had once been tunnels between (they assumed) many cave systems had been blocked off, either naturally or unnaturally. Either way, they had been under the impression that there was no way in to the main cave from deeper in the mountain. So they had been safe from attack. 

__

From behind, anyway. 

Beside him, the blond Elf was giving an almost-scowl, and Ken could only assume that Legolas had come to the same conclusion he was in the process of coming to. 

"Orcs?" 

"I can smell them." Legolas growled. "Disgusting creatures." 

If it had been a better situation, Ken would have laughed. Instead he nodded in agreement, "we should get back before-" he broke off, startled, when the sound of falling rocks sounded from somewhere in the catacombs. "That's-" 

Scrabbling and scratching and footfalls on the stone. 

__

Thwack! 

An arrow bounced from an outcropping of rock beside Legolas, and instantly both he and Ken had their own bows out, arrows flying. The shrieking that followed signified that at least one Orc had been hit, even as the throng began to emerge from the shadows. Ken fired another arrow, and three more whirred from Legolas' Elven bow. 

And, as always, there were too many. 

__

It was a trick! Of course! They never gave up looking for us, they just let us get comfortable and then came up on us from behind! And we FELL for it! Cursing himself mentally for not thinking of it, the bluenette spun, "Legolas! Come on! We've got to get back to the others and get out of here!" 

The Elf nodded, sending a final arrow toward the horde, and then the two of them were off and running with the Orcs right on their heels. Half a breath later the two of them burst into the main cave, surprising the others, who were still waiting for their – calm -- return. 

"We all need to get out!" Ken shouted, making everyone stare, "now!" 

"Ken, what-?" 

"Dai, just trust me on this-" the Orc shrieking broke through then, echoing in the caverns, and he glanced back over his shoulder, already knocking an arrow out of habit. "We _have_ to go, now!" 

__

Thwack! 

Another arrow bounced off of the cave rock, and Daisuke was instantly on his feet with the others right behind. Ken whirled and sent his own arrow flying. It stuck an Orc, causing the creature to scream in pain and rage; another arrow whirred over Ken's shoulder, this one coming from Ruki, and it was followed swiftly by a second. More shrieks, but they didn't stick around to see how many of the Orcs had been struck down. 

"Let's go!" 

Ryo and Ken lead the way out of the cave, with the others right behind and Ruki and Legolas bringing up the rear. Once they were outside, however, they were presented with another problem... 

"Where do we go?" Juri cried, "we've got nowhere to run to!" 

"No problem," Daisuke assured her with a wink (though Ken was certain he didn't actually feel as confident as he looked). Grabbing the girl's hand, he started down the slope of the mountain, following Ryo and Monodramon. "We'll just go after them, right?" 

"I... guess..." 

Ken stopped, watching Ryo lead the others on, and turned to look back at the cave. The Orcs were swarming out behind them now, with Ruki and Legolas attempting to keep them back -- unfortunately, Ruki was already running out of arrows. They couldn't keep up. "Ruki! Legolas! Come on!" 

"Fuck!" Ruki snarled. She loosed a final arrow and then took of running with Legolas on her heels. 

Ken, assuming they would know better than to stop and attempt hand-to-hand combat, started down the mountainside once more, hoping to catch up to the others. They seemed to be heading for the clearing he and Daisuke had found Ryo in... 

And there were both good and bad points to that plan. 

__

We'll be out in the middle of nowhere with no cover, but at the same time we'll be freer to fight... not that I expect most of them to be much help... 

"Ken!" 

He slammed into Kenta's back, only a short way from the valley they were heading toward, "what-?!" 

"Shit, why'd you stop?!" Ruki demanded, skidding in the leaves on the forest floor and giving them both a shove as she reached them. Whirling, she fired another arrow and then slapped Kenta upside the head. "You _want_ to get killed?!" 

"What... is... _th-that_?" Kenta stammered, ignoring the smack and staring upward. 

The shadow of something large skimmed over the ground and both Ken and Ruki quickly turned their eyes skyward. Behind them, they could hear Legolas stop in his tracks, and the twang of his bowstring followed. 

Above, a huge creature flew past, the wind from it's wake forcing the trees to bend and ripping leaves from the branches; Ken had to brace himself against it, holding onto his bow tightly, so he wouldn't fall or loose the important weapon. It was a dragon, maybe... or some other kind of monster... flying on huge membraned wings... and on it's back... 

Ken gasped, "Ruki, it's-" 

"What the fuck?!" 

Behind them, Legolas shouted; "a winged beast! I had... only heard of them in legends!" 

"Legolas," Ken said, shocked, "please tell me that's not a Nazgul riding it." 

Instead of answering, the Elf looked to the sky; "I fear we are in greater trouble than I imagined." 

__

Wonderful. 

The Child of Kindness, normally soft-spoken and caring, gave Kenta a hard shove to get him going and quickly followed after him. The others, still following Ryo and Monodramon -- and now Daisuke as well, who continued to pull Juri along -- were just stepping into the clearing. Ken's eyes went to Frodo and Sam, as both Hobbits ran to keep up with their human companion. 

__

We can't lose the Ring! He knocked another arrow, "Frodo! Sam! Get down! _Hide_!" 

Ignoring Ruki, who had fallen back to help Legolas keep the Orcs back (he was still assuming that they could defend themselves), he sprinted after Kenta, sliding down the last few feet of the slope on the fallen leaves of the forest, and dashed into the clearing. Without a word, he grabbed Frodo, tucking him under an arm (making both he and Sam utter surprised exclamations) and dropped the Hobbit near the edge of the trees at the other side of the glade. Sam scrambled to follow. Shoving them both less-than-delicately (he knew from experience that Hobbits were hard to hurt) under a low-falling tree branch for cover, he turned back to the clearing in time for Ruki and Legolas to burst from the trees, followed by several dozen shrieking Orcs. 

"Stay there!" He shouted back over his shoulder, already running to join his comrades in their fight. 

__

Thwack! 

An arrow struck the ground by his left foot as he stopped next to Ruki, sticking in the dirt, but he simply stepped to the side, ignoring it. Two arrows of his were out and flying before he had time to think about the danger. Beside him, Ruki was firing arrows as fast as she could, and a few feet away Legolas was doing the same. Despite their barrage, though, the Orcs kept coming. 

__

Thwack! 

"Fucking hell!" Ruki snarled, "where the hell are their archers?!" 

She was right. Ken hadn't seen their archers yet, and they were going to be a problem; arrows continued to strike the ground all around them, and behind them the others could only stand as far back as possible and try not to get hurt. 

But- 

"Monodramon!" 

Ken whirled when Ryo's voice sounded just as the Orc horde surged forward. Above, the winged creature, controlled by one of the Black Riders, wheeled in the sky and began a frighteningly fast dive downward. 

"Monodramon Shinka! _Strikedramon_! Strikedramon Shinka! _Cyberdramon_!" 

Two evolutions in such quick succession weren't unheard of, but still it was a surprise to most of the Chosen Children and Tamers present. Monodramon's evolutions were aided by Ryo's amazingly choreographed slashing of his cards, but it was still impressive. 

And just in time. 

"Cyberdramon!" Ryo ordered, shouting; "stop that thing!" 

Snarling, the digimon reached up just as the winged beast and it's Nazgul rider reached him. Claws entangled with claws and the beast screamed, enraged, as did Cyberdramon. He roared, clamping his teeth into the flesh of the creature's leg and making the Rider hiss angrily. 

Cyberdramon released one of the winged beast's legs long enough to slash at it's thin wings with long and sharp claws, and then reared back; "_Erase Claw_!" 

An ear-piercing shriek, and the creature wrenched away, barely avoiding Cyberdramon's attack. It flapped up and out of reach uncertainly, and it was obvious that it was injured. It uttered a bellowing roar, which was answered a second later as another beast -- complete with Shadow Rider -- appeared in the sky above them. 

Cyberdramon snarled, flexing his claws- 

"Look out!" 

The bluenette jerked his attention back to the Orcs, barely avoiding having his head lopped off. As it was, he twisted to the side and the edge of the Orcish sword caught his elbow. Wincing, he dropped down and rolled, only to scramble up, not worrying about his arm, and reach for an arrow. 

__

What-?! 

There was none. 

__

I'm out of arrows! 

Panic had begun to set in. He'd known, not having an Elven bow, that he would run out of arrows... they were all but surrounded, with Orcs in every direction, and he was out of arrows. There was... nothing... but... 

Something bumped into him and he jumped, spinning, to face Legolas. 

The Elf began to hand him a dagger, and- 

"Ken! Watch it!" 

__

Thwack! 

Almost before he could blink, Daisuke was in front of him. The goggled boy shouted, then was slammed violently backward, colliding with Ken and knocking him down. Ken gasped, struggling to push himself up on his elbows, hindered by Daisuke's weight. 

"Daisuke!" 

A soft gurgle and a cough. 

Ken stared in horror at the thick arrow that was protruding from his best friend's chest. 

"_Dai_!" 

Around them, silence fell. The Orcs were still and silent, waiting for something, watching the sky; Legolas kept his bow trained on them, and Ruki faced the horde with only a dagger, growling. Cyberdramon started toward them, only to be intercepted by another winged beast, and- 

__

Oh God, Dai... 

The arrowhead had snapped off and was laying in the grass next to them. Blood poured from Dai's back, puddling on the ground beneath him. In an attempt to stop it, Ken quickly removed the arrow shaft from the other boy's flesh and clamped his hand over the wound. 

Daisuke coughed, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. "Shit..." 

"Dai, you-" 

The redhead smiled weakly, his breathing labored and his eyes glazed. Ken could feel the blood from the exit wound soaking into his own clothes and stifled a sob. The wound was a bad one. His ears were picking up the gurgling of a punctured lung, and the irregular thumping of an injured heart. 

"Well..." another cough and he spit up a mouthful of blood, "I couldn't... let... them..." 

"Come on, Dai-" pressing his hands down, Ken still tried to slow the bleeding. "You can't-" 

"S'okay... fucking hurts, but..." Daisuke reached a shaking hand into the pocket of his blood-soaked jacket and grasped his D3 and Terminal. Withdrawing them, he held them up, "you take these... for now..." 

"For-?" Ken blinked, feeling as if he might cry. But of course he couldn't. "You can't! I can't!" 

Forcefully. "Take them." 

The bluenette shook his head. He couldn't speak. 

Thump-thump, thump-thump. 

Dai's heart was slowing. 

Thump-thump, thump-thump. 

The Child of Courage and Friendship continued to take racking breaths, his eyes glazed with pain. 

Thump-thump, thump... 

"Daisuke!" 

Dai's hand dropped to his side, his D3 and Terminal clattering on the ground. 

"Dai!" 

Nothing. 

__

Oh no! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! Dai! Ken sobbed dryly, into his friend's hair. 

As an Elf, he was unable to cry, but his heart wept freely. He didn't even see when the Orcs moved back, or when the winged beast that had been clashing with Cyberdramon withdrew. He ignored them. 

"Ken!" 

And then there was something digging into his shoulders, a terrible pressure, and he was lifted off the ground- 

__

What-? 

Dazed, he suddenly realized he was in the grasp of the second winged beast. 

"Fight back you fucking idiot!" 

This could only be Ruki, shouting at him as the creature lift him into the air and flap it's huge wings, carrying him over the trees. He struggled the best he could, suddenly enraged. Daisuke was dead. They had killed him. They had- 

"_LET ME GO_!" 

His struggled were in vain, and the creature simply tightened it's grip. 

"Fuck!" Ruki shrieked, throwing the dagger Legolas had given her to the ground. 

"Ruki, the Orcs-" 

Glaring, she realized with a start that they were gone, crashing back through the forest. And then she noticed that none of them -- the Orcs, the winged beasts or the Nazgul that were riding them -- had even _tried_ to reach Frodo and Sam. 

"They were after Ken all along." Legolas stated. "Why?" 

"How the hell should I know?!" 

Turning angry violet eyes to the others, she watched Juri kneel beside Daisuke, tears already spilling from her. She had, for some unknown reason, developed a strangely strong caring for the goggled boy, and now that he was... 

Kazu and Kenta... they were... in shock... horrified. Ryo was bringing Cyberdramon under control, making him de-evolve to his child form. Frodo and Sam ventured from the foliage, staring wide-eyed and Daisuke's body and the pool of blood that surrounded it. 

"Ruki?" 

She realized she had been staring. 

"Are you... alright?" Legolas sounded sad, as if grief was choking him. 

He couldn't cry either. 

"I saw this." She muttered, as Miyako began typing chat addresses into her Terminal. 

"Saw it?" 

"In Galadriel's Mirror." The Tamer told Legolas flatly. "I saw Daisuke die. I saw... and now it's happened. I saw him die." 

"Ruki, what-" 

Turning slowly, Ruki walked to the edge of the clearing, brooding. Legolas began to follow, then hesitated, changing his mind, and watched her sadly. Around him, the others attempted to comprehend the fact that their friend was... gone. 

"Miyako?" Taichi's voice came through the D-Terminal, sounding both tired and surprised. "What -- is it? What's happened?" 

"They've taken Ken." Miyako told him, her voice shaking, choked, and her eyes brimming with tears. "And -- Daisuke." She paused, a sob working from her throat. She cut it off and continued softly; "we've lost him. Taichi... Daisuke's dead."   


~*~*~*~*~*~

Me: *cowers* I'm soooooo sorry, everyone! ;_; If you read "Company", though, you may have seen it coming. Not a very good Christmas present for everyone, but... ^^;; Merry Christmas anyway, and thankies to Lady Fox who wished me a Merry Christmas too. *bows* Gomen gomen... 

Ruki: (flatly) Will the other things I saw come true as well? 

Me: ... 

Ruki: _WILL THE OTHER THINGS I SAW IN GALADRIEL'S MIRROR COME TRUE AS WELL_?! 

Me: I... 

Legolas: Ruki... 

Ruki: *leaves* 

Me: ...


	11. Chapter 11: Okami

**Rating:** PG - PG-13

**Warnings:** [violence] [language] [het] [shounen-ai]

**Pairings:** Takeru/Ken, Ruki/Legolas, Daisuke/Juri, Lee/Takato, Ryo/Hikari & Iori/Shuichon

**Notes (for Syenite Kai):** Yay! Sexy Legolas! ^_~

**Free Advert:** Two Towers Rocked! ^^;;

****

Disclaimer: I don't own! Digimon! Or! Lord Of The Rings! I wish, I wish, though.... 

  
**Digital**

Chapter 11: Okami (Wolf)  


"What... the hell... are _Wolf-riders_-?!" Takeru panted. He was running alongside Aragorn, behind the others as they attempted to distance themselves from the still-rapidly-approaching Orcs and Wolves. Ahead, Gimli lead the rest of their group across the plains. 

"In the past," Aragorn responded grimly, "a union was forged between the Orcs and a certain type of Wolf. Wargs, these Wolves are called. A good partnership for them, but-" 

"-not good for us." The blond finished, "I think I get the point." 

Behind them, the howling-roar of the Wargs was getting louder. The Wolf-riders were gaining on them, and very quickly. There was nowhere for them to hide, given that they were in the middle of the plains, but Aragorn was adamant that they couldn't stand and fight. 

"Aragorn!" The Child of Hope shouted, "we can't outrun them! We have to-" 

"No, Takeru." Aragorn interrupted, "we cannot fight them." 

"Well, shit! What do you want us to do?! They're-" Takeru's sentence was cut off when something collided with his side, making him stumble and fall. He handed hard, swearing violently, and ripped the Orcish arrow from his flesh. It had imbedded just below his previous injury, and now blood was running down his side once more. 

__

Well that hurt like a bitch. 

"Takeru!" The Ranger was there in an instant, hauling him to his feet, but even as he struggled up, flinging the arrow to the ground and grasping his bow, the Wolf-riders were upon them. 

"Get down!" Aragorn shoved him, forcing him to the ground, and dove down after him just as the first Warg and it's Orc rider -- a scout, they assumed, as the others were still semi-distanced from them -- reached them. The creature raced past, too large and running to fast to stop, and the Orc's sword skimmed over them, missing them by only a hair. 

It skidded to a snarling stop, kicking up grass and dirt, and whirled back around. 

Takeru scrambled up, shocked into movement by his first good look at the Warg -- it wasn't like a wolf at all, but more like a twisted bear, or a hyena. It growled, it's head held low and it's fur bristling. The Orc riding it have a hellish grin and kicked, forcing it forward. 

"Takeru, we must get away from here." 

The blonde gave Aragorn a sarcastic look, already reaching for his sword despite his injuries and the screaming of pain in his side. He could already feel the warm stickiness of his own blood soaking through his clothing and running down his side. Gritting his teeth, he snapped; "where do you suggest we go _to_?!" 

Aragorn shook his head, silently gripping his weapon as the Wolf-rider leaped toward them- the other Riders were roaring toward them, their snarling and howling echoing across the open plains, and- 

__

THUNK! 

Something collided with the Warg that had jumped for them, making the beast collapse, pinning it's rider to the ground. 

Blinking, Takeru stared blankly when Gimli pulled his axe from the Warg's side and quickly dispatched the Orc itself. The Dwarf turned to them, shifting his axe from one hand to the other, and the three of them faced the oncoming Wolf-riders. Takeru took a split second and impaled his sword in the ground, knocking an arrow into his bow in almost the same moment. 

Gimli's eyes flicked toward the Child of Hope. "You're bleeding." 

Flatly, and without a pause. "I know." 

Concerned. "Badly, Takeru." 

Again. "I know." 

Aragorn shifted, grounding his feet into the dirt to gain traction. "Here they come-" 

"You guys!" Taichi shouted, "get out of there!" 

"Takeru, come on!" Hikaru pleaded when they ignored her brother, "_please_!" 

__

Sorry Hikari. 

An arrow flew, launched from one of the Orc's bows, and Takeru loosed his first arrow as well. It slammed into the front leg of a Warg, making the creature stumble. It didn't stop, though. His second arrow connected with the upper chest of an Orc, throwing it off of it's wolf, which promptly turned and leaped, tearing it's 'partner' to pieces. Takeru grimaced and fired again, this time skimming an arrow across the flank of another Warg and, at the same time, across the leg of it's rider. 

He reached back for another arrow, but stopped himself. 

__

They're too close for- swearing mentally, he dropped his bow, leaving it to the ground and it's own fate (it wasn't an Elven bow so he was okay doing it) and regained his sword in time for the first wave of Wolf-riders to hit them. 

"Fucking hell!" 

The blonde almost immediately found himself thrown to the side as one of the bear-wolves struck him a glancing blow in the chest. Even without a full-on hit, Takeru staggered back, stumbling, and had to gasp, the breath driven out of him. 

In amazement, he saw that the creature's paw had left four thick gashes that ran almost from his shoulder to the bottom of his rib cage. They weren't particularly _deep_, but blood was beginning to seep from them as well... 

__

Damn it! I don't have time for this! 

Ignoring his injuries (again) he hefted his sword and faced the Wolf-rider that had hit him, bringing his weapon up to parry a slash by the Orc as the creature rode past. 

A few feet away, Aragorn was attempting to defend himself, and Gimli was having even more trouble than either the Child of Hope or the Ranger -- he simply didn't have the reach required to do much damage to the mounted Orcs. Still, the Dwarf was doing his best with what he had; slashing at the legs of Wargs that were on the way past. 

They were managing to hold out. Barely. 

"Aragorn!" Gimli called, "we can't keep doing this!" 

"No, we can't." Aragorn agreed. Spinning, he slashed viciously with his sword and managed to dismount a single Orc. In seconds it was dead, cut down not by the Ranger but by it's own wolf. It seemed there was no camaraderie among them at all. "We have to -- Takeru-!" 

"What-?" Turning on Aragorn's warning, he managed to duck out of the way just as another Rider raced by. _Shit! _His foot slipped and he went down; landing hard, Takeru gasped when pain flared through not only his injured side and the slashes in his chest, but from his ribs as well. Despite his newfound-toughness he cried out, his sword dropping from his hand and hitting the ground with a metallic thump, though he quickly regained his composure. 

Before anyone could reach his side to help him, he was struggling up and reaching for his sword again. 

__

I've gotta' learn to stop pushing myself... I'm going to kill myself by doing this some day... 

Another stab of pain from his ribs and he hissed, grating the sound out from between clenched teeth while at the same time whirling, sword up, to meet the next attacker. 

From the other direction, he could hear the others shouting but couldn't make out much of anything until- 

"_Guilmon_!" 

"_Terriermon_!" 

If he hadn't been in so much pain, the Child of Hope might have been about to show surprise when Takato and Lee's voices shouted out in union; "-_EVOLUTION_!" 

__

What..? The Digimon... 

"Guilmon Shinka! _Growmon_!" 

"Terriermon Shinka! _Gargomon_!" 

Though he himself couldn't muster up the extra energy to be shocked, the Wolf-rider he was currently engaged in battle with certainly did. And Takeru didn't hesitate to use that to his advantage. He had just finished knocking the creature from it's seat and slashing across it's throat with his sword, and was turning to face the snarling bear-wolf, when the huge claws of a red-and-black digimon flew downward from above and slammed into the creature, pinning it to the ground and snapping it's neck in one powerful blow. 

Panting, Takeru looked upward -- _far_ upward -- and made a mental note to thank Guilmon... or Growmon... when he got the chance. Before he could think of anything else, Growmon was off in another direction, snarling and snapping and crushing Orcs and Wargs along the way. 

__

He's... so different from Guilmon... The blonde thought, somewhat muzzily. His mind didn't seem to be working properly... still, he managed to have enough sense to continue to defend himself when yet another Wolf-rider came his way. 

His arms and legs were aching and the blood continued to stream from his side and chest. He wished he could stop and take a breather, but instead he swung his sword, which sliced into the leg of a passing Warg, making it fall and catapulting it's rider onto the ground. The Orc climbed up, gathering it's weapons, and came after him immediately. 

One-on-one with a single Orc was nothing compared to what he had done in the past, and Takeru could almost find humor in the situation. 

It only took a handful of seconds for him to shop the foul creature's head from it's shoulders. Breathing heavily, he grimaced, disgusted when the black blood of the Orc sprayed across his shirt, mixing with his own. 

__

Just fucking great- 

Something bumped into him. 

Jamming his elbow backward, it connected with something and he jumped forward and spun around; his eyes met those of a very large, very angry-looking Warg. Probably the one that had belonged to the Orc he'd just killed. How could he have forgotten about it?! 

It bellowed, the breath from it's roar making his hair blow back. 

"Oh no." 

There was nothing he could do.... 

"_Gattling Arm_!" 

The barrage of shots that collided with the Warg made it howl in pain, and it fell, landing on it side as the attack continued to rain on it. Takeru took a momentary glance to the side at Gargomon, then stepped toward the wolf and stabbed downward with his sword, shoving the blade clean through it's neck. It gurgled softly, kicking for a moment, and then was still. 

Tiredly, Takeru couldn't help but lean against the creature, propping himself up with the sword that was still imbedded in it's flesh. 

"I have to..." murmuring, he pushed himself back up, stumbled, and pulled his sword free. 

It was only then that he noticed that the battle field was mostly quiet. 

He looked around. 

The Wolf-riders -- Orcs and Wargs alike -- had all been defeated, with the help of Growmon and Gargomon. That much was obvious by the number of Orc bodies and Warg carcasses that had either been stepped on or slashed to pieces (courtesy of the huge dragon-dinosaur digimon) or- 

"Or shot to shit." Takeru shook his head, and immediately regretted it when it began to pound. "Oh hell..." 

"Takeru!" Taichi's voice made him wince and he wished Jou was there with them. The boy was always prepared for anything, and would most likely have had aspirin with him. "Jeez," Taichi was looking at him with disbelief; "you okay?" 

"Hm..." Not saying anything didn't make him a liar, and he wasn't sure he could put up a convincing argument right then. "I will be." 

Continuing his inspection of the area, he began tallying everyone; Aragorn and Gimli, dirty, covered in sweat and blood, but alive. Taichi, right there next to him. Takato, over with Growmon, talking the adrenaline-pumped digimon down. Lee and Shuichon checking to see if Gargomon was injured in any way. Iori, with Merry and Pippin, and Hikari, who... was... kneeling... next to... 

"Hikari!" Takeru shouted loudly, making everyone jump. Even he was surprised by the force behind his voice, given the pain that flared through him just by breathing... he shoved the pain away and headed over to where his best friend was- "Hikari! Get away from it!" 

Hikari looked up, frowning. 

She was kneeling. 

Next to an injured Warg. 

__

And PETTING the damned thing!? 

The girl didn't move, and continued to gently stroke the fur around the bear-wolf's eyes and face. And the most amazing thing was that the Warg -- fully awake and only immobilized by damage to it's hind leg -- was watching her intently, but without the slightest sign of aggression. 

Still.... 

"It's dangerous, 'Kari!" Standing over her now, Takeru made as if to raise his sword, "get back." 

"No, Takeru!" Hikari reached up, placing a gentle hand on his wrist, "no. He's hurt, see? He won't do anything... he's hurt, and..." pausing, she resumed stroking the Warg's fur; "he's not bad. He's not." 

"Not... not _bad_?!" The Child of Hope demanded, his voice betraying his weariness; "_Not bad_? Hikari, look around you! Did you even see-" 

"He's not." Hikari interrupted firmly, as the rest of their group came to stand nearby, confused and surprised by what they were witnessing; "the others... most of them... were... vicious... but Hyouga isn't." 

Takeru stared. "Hyouga?" 

"It's his name." 

"How do you-?" 

The Child of Light tilted her head to the side; "I just know." 

So that was it. 

Sighing, Takeru resigned himself and dropped his sword. He was too tired even to clean it and sheath it. To hell with it. He'd just use the Orc one he'd brought with him. Reaching up, he pushed his hair out of his eyes impatiently and ran his fingers across his face. His lip was bleeding and swelling in his cheek told of a huge bruise-to-be. 

"Beautiful." 

Hikari smiled, continuing her silent communication with the Warg. 

It was something that Takeru had learned a long time ago not to question; Hikari had always had a way with animals of any and every kind. Aside from that, she seemed to have a sort of empathy that allowed her to understand them and the way they were feeling. And, in extreme cases, even to speak with them to a certain extent. 

"A case like this..." a pause, then he spoke to everyone; "we need to get moving. If we don't, you can be sure more of those Wolf-riders will be here, and I don't think we could take them again." 

"But-" 

"We were lucky this time." Turning, he nodded to Takato, who had managed to calm Growmon down. "I owe you my thanks," a look toward Lee and Gargomon; "I owe _all_ of you." A sigh. "Alright, let's move." 

"Takeru," Aragorn's hand came down on his shoulder, "you're injured." 

"I know." The blonde repeated, for what seemed like the hundredth time. "I know. But we can't stay here." 

The Ranger hesitated, then nodded reluctantly, "alright." 

"Good, let's-" 

"What about Hyouga?" 

The Warg. 

Hikari had befriended it, so he should have known that she'd want to bring it with them. 

"Hikari-" 

"It's hurt," Merry pointed out, interrupting. "How's it supposed to walk with us? We'd have to carry it or something." 

"_I'm_ not doing it!" Pippin stated, waving his hands for emphasis. 

Merry smacked him. "Of course not! That's not the point!" 

"Hey!" Takato gestured upward; "Growmon can carry him!" 

Everyone stared up at the huge digimon, who was currently... well, staring _down _at them with huge, curious eyes. Takeru wondered. Growmon, during the battle, had been ferocious and frightening, and now he was... 

__

He's just a GIGANTIC version of Guilmon, that's what he is. 

"Growmon will carry Hyouga." Growmon agreed happily. 

"He's just too happy to help." Gargomon sighed, shaking his lop-eared head. 

Lee chuckled, "you could do with some of his enthusiasm, Gargomon." 

"Not me!" 

Hikari looked toward Takeru, "well? Do you think we could -- hey, what's-?" 

A blur of yellow. 

"Ahh!" 

"I see," Renamon said flatly, looking around, "that you had some trouble." 

"Just a little." 

"Here." The fox-like digimon held out one of the black laptop computers (complete with battery pack) that she was carrying. "I apologize for taking so long, and for having to leave now. But I must take this to Ruki and the others." 

She meant the other computer, of course, and vanished again without so much as a goodbye. Takeru glanced at the laptop he was holding, and then offered it to Taichi. The older boy took it and quickly set about getting it booted up and the port opened. 

"So," Shuichon said, "uh, how does this Port thing work?" 

"You've seen the show, right? In your world?" Takeru asked wearily, "we use a D3 to open the Portal, and everyone does through. Assuming that Tai' picks the right exit-port we'll all end up at Primary Village. Right, Taichi?" 

Absently. "Yeah." 

"'Kay." Shuichon nodded. 

Takeru watched for a moment while Taichi fiddled with the computer, then blinked slowly when he realized that his vision was beginning to go fuzzy. He managed to clear it a bit. Wincing again, he turned away from the others so they wouldn't see the pain that flashed across his features, and gingerly prodded the arrow-wound that was still bleeding from his side. 

The injury was a bad one. Deep, and painful. 

Worse than anything he had suffered in Middle Earth, and coupled with the original wound to his side and the gashes across his chest. 

He was afraid he might pass out from blood loss if he didn't do something soon. 

__

But what the hell CAN I do? There's no medical supplies... I'll just wait until we're in the Digital World, and then see about getting myself fixed up. His fingers came in contact with a particularly sore spot, then and he cursed, then withdrew his hand, which was already coated with blood. 

A few feet away, Aragorn was watching him. Both he and Gimli could tell how badly he was hurt, and the Ranger, in his own way, was beginning to show concern as Takeru continued to push himself. 

Not that he really had much of a choice. 

"There!" Across the way, Taichi hit a final button with a flourish; "let's go, everyone!" 

A howl echoed across the plains at about that same time, and Hyouga growled softly. 

"We must hurry." Aragorn ordered. 

Right. He didn't have to tell anyone twice. Taichi opened the port and stepped to the side for everyone else. Hikari went first, with a final pat of Hyouga's head; the Warg was, in a way, next, though Growmon was carrying him when they went through. The others followed suit, vanishing into the computer as Aragorn and Gimli watched in amazement. 

"Bloody hell!" Gimli exclaimed, "they just-" 

"Just _go_!" Taichi rolled his eyes and shoved the Dwarf, making him stumble and disappear into the computer. 

Takeru forced himself to dig out his D3, and took a deep breath. The transporting through the portal was somewhat energy-draining on any day, and he wasn't sure how well he'd do this time... ignoring the pain in his side, which flared again when he was sucked in, he braced himself for the impact of entry into the Digital World. 

"Uhh..." 

He landed hard, hitting the ground with a thud, and lay there for a long moment, trying to catch his breath. Finally, about the time that Aragorn and Taichi were coming through after him and the port was closing, he managed to climb to his feet. 

Primary Village, colorful and happy, was in sight on the horizon. 

A half-smile. With blood still streaming from his side and chest, and with his ribs aching painfully, the Child of Hope turned his eyes skyward. 

And promptly passed out. 

"Oh my God! Takeru!" 

"I have him." The Ranger, who had been just behind him, caught Takeru as he fell. "He is in need of a healer." 

"Get him to the Village," Iori said, "we can take care of him there." 

Aragorn nodded silently and started off. 

Behind them, Taichi blinked when his D-Terminal began to chirp at him, and dug it out of his pocket. Hitting the 'talk' button, he was surprised when Miyako's face flashed onto the screen. The girl looked... 

"Miyako?" Taichi was shocked by how tired he sounded; "what -- is it? What's happened?" 

A pause, and she almost sobbed before continuing. "They've taken Ken." Her voice wasn't loud, and was verged with tears, but everyone who had been heading for Primary Village stopped and turned; "and -- Daisuke." Another short pause, and crying could be heard from beyond the violet-haired girl. Her voice was barely audible when she spoke again, but what she said echoed deeply into everyone present. "We've lost him. Taichi... Daisuke's dead."   


~*~*~*~*~*~  


Me: Did everyone have a good Christmas? ^^ I hope you all did! 

Me: Okay, I know that this chapter ended pretty much the same way that the last one did, but it took place at the same time, so...

Taichi: Hikari's friends with a Warg. 

(Hikari: His name is Hyouga!) 

Iori: Daisuke's dead. 

Gargomon: Ken's been taken by the Nazgul. 

Shuichon: And Takeru's passed out. 

Aragorn: She loves doing things like this to us. 

Gimli: That she does. 

Lee: This _will_ get better, right? 

Me: I guarantee nothing. =^.^= 


	12. Chapter 12: Tochaku

**Rating:** PG - PG-13

**Warnings:** [violence] [language] [het] [shounen-ai]

**Pairings:** Takeru/Ken, Ruki/Legolas, Daisuke/Juri, Lee/Takato, Ryo/Hikari & Iiro/Shuichon

**Notes:** Ano… I started using some Elvish in this chapter. Legolas speaks it, mostly when he's conversing with Aragorn. Takeru, Ken and Ruki will probably use a word or two later on, too. Translations will always be included at the end of the chapters! ^_~

**Notes (for Lady Fox):** Thankies bunches! *glomps* (Lady Fox and I have been brainstorming together for the 3rd installment of my Digimon/LoTR series ^^) Oh, and, as always, everyone says hi to you, too!

Ruki: *rolls eyes*

Legolas: *sigh* She means 'hello'.

****

Disclaimer: Here's me saying what everyone already knows, but needs to be said anyway. *sighsigh* I don't own Digimon or Lord Of The Rings. Unfortunately. .   


****

Digital

Chapter Twelve: Tochaku (Arrival)  


"How..." Iori asked, his voice failing him. He took a moment and tried again, "how could this happen?" 

"There was... nothing..." Miyako's voice came through the D-Terminal again. "There was nothing we could... there were too many, and..." she choked then, and a half-sob caught in her throat. "...Taichi, what are we going to do?" 

Taichi closed his eyes, swallowing, then; "just wait... for Renamon, and get here." 

"Yeah..." Miyako agreed sadly, "yeah." 

"Miyako," Legolas' voice said softly, "I must speak with Aragorn. May I?" 

Aragorn assumed that she handed the Terminal over, and took the one that Taichi offered to him, still propping Takeru up. The blonde needed medial attention, but this seemed to be of at least equal, if not more importance. Looking the Terminal over, Aragorn frowned. The technology was unknown, but he understood that all he needed to do was speak into it. He looked down, meeting Legolas' gaze through the machine. "Legolas." 

The Elf looked like hell. "Ken was taken by the winged beasts." 

"Winged beasts?" Aragorn was surprised. 

"Uma, Aragorn, uma." Legolas agreed darkly, "and ridden by the Nazgul, not less. Nadorhaunrim! They took him by flight. There was nothing we could do to stop them. Amin dele ten' ho." Shaking his head, he sighed and continued; "we will meet you as soon as we can. Manke naa lye omentien?" 

"The place is called Primary Village. I am sure Miyako will know where it is." 

Legolas nodded, "tenna' san', mellonamin." 

"Vanya sulie, Legolas." 

The others were staring blankly when he handed the D-Terminal back to Taichi, who pocketed it without a word. He knew they didn't understand some of what he had said, but it wasn't the time for a language lesson. 

Instead of explaining, he hefted Takeru up again, nearly slinging the boy over his shoulder, and started for the Village before them. 

__

So the Shadow Riders also arrived in this world. 

That could be problematic. Still, the Ranger wasn't exactly surprised by the revelation. He was sure that worse things than the Nazgul had been set upon the people and lands of Takeru and Ken's world. 

Takeru....

Not one to show weakness, Aragorn had kept his thoughts to himself. But he was worried about the boy. During Takeru's time in Middle Earth, Aragorn had come to respect his resilience, and, to a certain extent, his stubbornness, but he had pushed himself too hard this time. Even to an untrained eye, the wounds he had endured looked terrible, and he had surely lost more blood than was safe. 

Still, Aragorn was fairly sure Takeru would pull through. 

Fairly sure... 

"Taichi! Hikari!" A familiar voice called out, and the Ranger glanced up to see Patamon flying toward them from the Village they were approaching. Behind the winged digimon came Wormmon and several others that he didn't recognize. "Iori! Ken just said we all had to meet you guys here and so we-" Patamon broke off, then; "who..." a moment of silence. "_Gimli_?! _Aragorn_?!" 

"It is us, little one." Aragorn responded grimly, "as well as others." 

"Merry and Pippin." Wormmon remarked, "what's going on?" 

"Why are you -- _ahh_!" Patamon shrieked suddenly when he came close enough to recognize Takeru, sprawled over Aragorn's shoulder. "_Takeru_!" Flapping over, the digimon hovered in the air in front of them. "Aragorn, what happened-?!" 

"We encountered Orcs shortly before Renamon arrived." The man explained, "and Takeru was hurt." 

"Renamon?" Wormmon wondered, "but she-" 

"Takeru," Aragorn interrupted, "needs to see a healer. We can explain everything later." 

"Of course." Wormmon nodded, his eyes flicking back to where Growmon was still carrying Hyouga, and Gargomon was standing with Lee, Takato and Shuichon. His gaze flitted over them and then he turned, "Gomamon, we need Jou." 

"Sure," one of the unfamiliar digimon shrugged, seemingly nonchalantly but with confusion and worry in his features, and turned, leaving the way they had come. 

"Gomamon will get him," another of the creatures -- this one resembling a cat -- explained, "but we should go to the Village anyway. Jou can take better care of him there than here." When Gimli gave her an unsure look, she continued; "Jou is a doctor. A healer. He can help." 

As she was saying this, a taller boy with dark blue hair appeared, running from Primary Village with four others -- two other boys and two girls -- on his heels. Panting, he stopped a few feet away, "Gomamon told me that someone needed – _what happened to Takeru_?!" 

"He's hurt." Shuichon said. 

"Obviously," the boy commented. Frowning, he adjusted his glasses, "look, we need to get him inside so I can see how badly... you there, come on, hurry up. You've already got him, so you can keep carrying him. Let's go, let's _go_!" 

The Ranger ignored the fact that he wasn't used to being ordered around and proceeded to follow his instructions. The others, had they not still been trying to absorb the fact that Ken had been kidnapped and Daisuke was... well, if they hadn't been distracted by those facts, they might have been able to show surprise when Jou began ordering Aragorn around. 

He had never been a leader (okay, once, but that had been prompted by Sora and ended badly) and never showed that kind of forcefulness. Being in medical school and learning the importance of time in treating people had made him stronger, apparently. 

"Is he going to be okay?" Patamon asked worriedly, perching on Jou's shoulder for a moment, "is he? Jou?" 

"I don't know." Jou responded truthfully, starting after Aragorn. "We'll see." 

A second later Gimli headed after them, with Merry and Pippin, who scrambled to keep up with the Dwarf. Yamato, looking confused but too concerned for his brother not to follow, went after a moment of hesitation. 

"Takatomon..." Growmon whined, his voice punctuating the silence that followed their departure, "Growmon is tired, and Hyouga wants down." 

The Warg was beginning to look distinctly annoyed. 

"Just... carry him for a couple more minutes, okay?" Takato told him, "and you can put him down in Primary Village, so he can get his leg fixed up." 

He sounded somewhat doubtful, a feeling that the others shared with him. No one, besides Hikari, was sure about Hyouga yet. The Warg was dangerous, and despite Hikari's insistence that he was now her friend, he was still a potential threat. 

"Taichi," Sora said finally, "what's going on? I woke up this morning and everyone was gone, except for Mimi. There was no power. We couldn't get the D-Terminals to work, either, and then suddenly mine came on and Ken said to get to Primary Village." 

"Ken..." Taichi muttered. "And Daisuke..." 

"Tai'?" Mimi asked, tilting her pink-haired heard to the side; "you look upset." 

"Mimi," with a half-sob, Hikari picked Tailmon up and hugged her. "Daisuke... he's..." 

Even before she said it, the looks that crossed the faces of their friends were horror-filled. That was also part of being a Chosen Child. They seemed to have a semi-link with each other, though not a strong one. It generally didn't do much good, especially over long distances, but in this case, with the tears that were streaming from Hikari's eyes, and the grief that was radiating from her brother and the others, there was only one conclusion that they could come to. 

"No. No..." V-Mon looked to Taichi frantically, "Daisuke's not... you can't... he isn't..." 

"Dead." Taichi finished for him softly, "yes." Then, closing his eyes for a minute, he started toward Primary Village again. Behind him, the others were still trying to comprehend what he had told them. V-Mon was staring in shock at the ground, his eyes darting frantically as his mind worked. "We need to get everyone cleaned up," the former-leader of the Chosen Children said, "the others will be here soon." 

Koushirou seemed to be in shock when he scrambled after Taichi, "w-what others? What's happening?" 

He found himself ignored, and had to give up after several tries at catching his friend's attention. Sadly and still in shock, everyone followed Taichi in silence; everyone except for V-Mon. The little blue digimon continued to stand and stare blankly at the ground, silent sears welling into his eyes. These were followed by a flash of sudden anger, and he clenched his hands into fists, his claws digging into his skin. 

"V-Mon..." Hikari had stopped walking and turned back. "I... might not know exactly what's happened, but... I know... that Takeru, and the others... Aragorn and Gimli... V-Mon, they will find a way to..." 

"You can't bring him back." V-Mon stated flatly. 

"No," the girl agreed, "but they'll do everything they can to make sure the people that are responsible... that they are punished." 

V-Mon glanced at her, angry tears spilling from his eyes, and then simply stalked toward the Village, leaving Hikari and Tailmon to stare worriedly after him. Finally, the Child of Light sighed and began to run, carrying her partner along for the ride, looking for wherever they had taken Takeru for treatment. 

She found the place shortly, a smaller hut near the center of the town, and squeaked inside to stand out of the way while Jou worked. The doctor-in-training had managed to order Aragorn around until Takeru was securely in a bed and stripped down to almost nothing. (Hikari would have had to avert her gaze, had they removed much more of his clothing.) He had also commandeered the Ranger, as he was in need of an assistant, to help him while he did a quick examination of the unconscious blond and decided the best course of treatment. 

In the end, the only thing he could really do for Takeru was stop the bleeding of the arrow-and-sword wounds in his side and sew them up. With nothing to dull the pain of the needle and thread (which was kindly supplied by a random Floramon), Jou was to a certain extent glad that his younger friend was passed out. 

Once he and Aragorn had stitched the wounds on Takeru's side, he set to work on the gashes that ran across the boy's chest. (Jou made a comment to the effect of Takeru being attacked by a bear, to which Aragorn responded that he wasn't that far off)… and, though they weren't deep enough to require stitching, bandaged them up tightly. 

Which would have hurt his ribs, had Jou not done his best to bandage _them_ as well. 

The bloody lip only needed to be cleaned, and the concerned digimon of Primary Village gave them a helpful potion to apply to all the various bruises that stained Takeru's skin. Apparently, made of a flower that was indigenous to the area, it would calm the swelling and keep the discoloring to a minimum. 

Jou and Aragorn took their word for it. 

Yamato and Patamon stood by the entire time, hovering in a nearby corner and watching worriedly. Hikari and Tailmon were much more collected than Takeru's brother and digimon, though in fairness Hikari had seen more in the previous three hours than anything Yamato had ever seen, and Tailmon had always been a calmer digimon than Patamon. 

Indeed, Hikari and Tailmon, while both worried about Takeru, were still dwelling on Daisuke. Both Yamato and Patamon had left before the revelation of the redhead's fate, but it was sure that they would have a strong reaction when they found out. 

"Well," Jou stood back, after what seemed like forever, and made as if to wipe his bloodstained hands on his pants (not something that he _ever_ would have done) before hesitating and glancing down. When his eyes took in the amount of blood that was already smeared across his clothing, he sighed and wiped them on his pants anyway before turning to Yamato and Patamon. "He lost a lot of blood, and from what I can tell he's got at least two fractured ribs. I can't be sure about that without x-rays, though, so I might be mistaken." 

"He'll be alright, won't he?" 

"Hm," a tentative nod, "I think so. He needs to rest, but he should be alright." 

Yamato's expression was severe, and he cast a wary look at Aragorn. "I need to go talk with Tai'. He has some explaining to do." 

"You do that," Jou said vaguely, then to the Ranger, "thanks for your help..." 

"My name is Aragorn." 

"Ah." A nod, "thanks for your help, Aragorn. Now have a seat." 

"Pardon me?" 

"You've been hurt, too. Sit down so I can take care of it." 

Aragorn shook his head, "I will be fine." 

"No you won't, you've got a bad cut across your arm there, and your back is-" 

"I've had worse." 

"I'm sure you have, but-" 

"My thanks, but I need not-" 

"It won't take very long, so just-" 

The man started for the door, much to Jou's exasperation, only to find Hikari blocking his path, Tailmon still in her arms and a tolerant but firm expression on her face. "Hikari, please move so I may pass." 

"Aragorn, you've got to let Jou fix you up." 

"I don't think-" 

"Aragorn!" She snapped, giving him a hard look; "_sit down_." 

The Ranger blinked, surprised by the force behind her words, and after a moment stepped backward and sat down uncomfortably in one of the small and strangely pillow-y chairs that adorned the room. Pillow-y seemed to be the theme of Primary Village. 

"I'm glad Takeru's going to be alright." The girl said, at the same time as Jou managed to goad Aragorn into removing his tunic to have his injuries treated. "But.. .there are some things we need to explain to everyone, and I'm just getting in the way here so I'm going." 

"Good idea." Tailmon added. "Yamato and Patamon should come with us." 

"But I don't want to-" 

"Patamon," Hikari looked at the digimon, "some things have happened... and you both need to hear about them. Come on." 

With a sigh, Patamon fluttered over and perched on her shoulder, gesturing for Yamato to follow. It was a rare thing when the Child of Friendship took orders from anyone (least of all his best friend's little sister) but he simply followed them silently, casting a final glance back at his brother, who remained blissfully unconscious. 

"Jou?" 

"Yes, Hikari?" 

"I'll send Gimli in on-" 

"_Hikari_!" A familiar voice called, tinged with tears, and at about the same time that the brunette opened the door, a blur of violet hair collided with her, squashing Tailmon and making them both gasp. 

"Miyako, you're crushing me!" 

"Tailmon?" Miyako sniffled and stepped back. Her eyes were red-rimmed and her voice was choked. "S-sorry..." 

Hikari set Tailmon down and shut the door behind her, leaving Jou to argue with Aragorn. "Miyako, are you alright? When did you get here?" Glancing past her friend, Hikari noticed Juri, standing with the rest of the Tamers. She seemed to be explaining something. Beyond them, Ruki was leaning against a tree with Legolas beside her. Both of them looked terrible. "Everyone's here now." 

"Yeah..." Miyako looked down, "except for Ken and Dai..." 

"I know." Hikari said quietly. "We're just going to get everyone together... we need a plan... we need to..." her voice trailed off even more, then; "we need to get Ken back." Giving Miyako a push, she looked at Gimli, who was standing just outside the hut with Merry and Pippin. "You should go in. Jou'll have a look at you and bandage you up." 

With that she picked Tailmon up again and headed toward her brother. 

Everyone was there now, and there was a lot they had to discuss.   


~*~*~*~*~*~

****

Time for Elvish Corner with Legolas (Elvish) and Aragorn (translations)! (Yay! ^^;;) 

Legolas: Uma 

Aragorn: "Yes" 

Legolas: Nadorhaunrim! 

Aragorn: "Cowardly Dogs!" 

Legolas: Admin dele ten' ho. 

Aragorn: "I am worried about him." 

Legolas: Make naa lye omentien? 

Aragorn: "Where are we meeting?" 

Legolas: Tenna' san', mellonamin. 

Aragorn: "Until then, my friend." 

Legolas: Vanya sulie. 

Aragorn: "Fair winds." (a goodbye)   


~*~*~*~*~*~

Me: Yeah. Kind of a bad/boring chapter. *sighsigh* I had to force it out, but I _swear_ the next chapter will be better. Better, I say! 

V-Mon: Daisuke... he's... 

Me: ... 

Wormmon: Where's Ken? Why didn't he come with the others? 

Me: ... 

Hikari: Everyone's hurt, and... things won't be like this for the rest of the fic, right? 

Me: There's a third one in the works, too! =^.^= It's gonna' be a trilogy! 

Hikari: -_-;; 


	13. Chapter 13: Tan'itsusei

**Rating:** PG - PG-13

**Warnings:** [violence] [language] [het] [shounen-ai]

**Pairings:** Takeru/Ken, Ruki/Legolas, Daisuke/Juri, Lee/Takato, Ryo/Hikari & Iori/Shuichon

**Notes:** None! Muahahahahahahaha – eh, it's not that funny. :p

**Disclaimer:** Me: If I have ever claimed to own Digimon or Lord Of The Rings, may I be struck down from above by lightning! 

Ken: That's a disclaimer? 

Takeru: I wouldn't tempt fate if I were you. 

Me: ^^;; 

Digital~

Chapter Thirteen: Tan'itsusei (Unity)  


__

"Takeru my boy," Gandalf said, "you've really done it this time." 

Takeru sighed. "Believe me, I know." 

"In the future, you should be more careful." 

"Yeah, yeah." 

"Listen to me, lad, for I am serious. Much danger lies ahead of you, for you and for Ken." 

"Ken?" The blonde frowned, "I feel... like there's something..." 

"He has been taken, Child of Hope, by the enemy." 

"What?!" Takeru yelped, then stared; "by 'taken', you mean-" 

Gandalf nodded gravely, "not turned to their side, but taken to Isengard. To Saruman." 

"Not turned to their side?" 

"Though surely that is Saruman's intent." 

"But-" 

"Takeru," laying a hand on the boy's shoulder, the Wizard looked at him severely. "Though darkness' hold on Ken is no longer strong, he still carries a part of it inside of himself. Something he can never be rid of." 

Takeru frowned, "the Dark Spore?" 

"Perhaps." Gandalf agreed, "though inactive, it still has much power. The power to turn good hearts to the shadows. This is what Saruman wants from Ken." 

"But the Spore can't be removed!" 

"This will not stop him. He will take it in any way he can." 

At the tone in Gandalf's voice, Takeru shook his head, "he wouldn't-" 

"A single life is of no consequence to Saruman, lad." His voice took on a sad note; "be it Ken's or yours, or any other besides his own. You must stop him before he can carry through with his plan." 

Silence, then; "Gandalf..." 

Gandalf regarded him wisely, with a half-smile on his face. 

"Gandalf, you're supposed to be-" 

"Go now, Takeru." The Wizard interrupted, "find Ken, and be safe. Aa' menealle nauva calen ar' malta." 

May your ways be green and golden..? Wait. I don't speak- 

Takeru woke slowly, his eyes opening to the blinding light of the sun through a window. He had been dreaming about... Gandalf? Shutting his eyes again, he tried to remember what the Wizard had said... about Ken... 

Sitting up, he groaned when pain flared from his side. _Okay, ow._

"You're awake." 

"...Ruki?" 

The girl was sitting in a chair near the bedside, arms crossed and eyes closed. A bandage was wrapped around her upper arm, and various cuts and scrapes marred her skin. She opened her eyes as he looked at her and regarded him flatly. "If you're feeling up to it, you should get dressed. The others are worried about you." 

"...dressed?" Glancing down, he realized he was wearing only his boxer shorts and fought down the flush of red that attempted to rise in his face. "Ruki, who undressed me?" 

Ruki raised an eyebrow. "Aragorn, if you must know. He had to for Jou to treat you." 

"Jou? What-" 

"Just get dressed. We'll explain everything later." 

She sounds... there's something... Scrambling up, Takeru managed to catch her arm just before she vanished out of the door. "Ruki! Where's Ken?" 

She hesitated, then pulled her arm from his grasp and gave him a glare, snapping; "just get dressed, okay?" 

Taken aback, but not really surprised, the blond glanced to the side, following Ruki's gaze. A pile of clothing in various hues of green, grey and brown had been thrown over a chair next to the door. Takeru blinked when he picked the top layer up, recognizing it as Elvish-style and very similar in make to the outfit Legolas had been wearing. 

It was only then that he happened to notice that Ruki was wearing basically the same thing; because of the months he had spent with her in Middle Earth, he was used to the Elvish clothing. He had completely forgotten that she wasn't supposed to be wearing it, despite being an Elf again. 

"So..." his eyebrows went up and he nodded in her direction, "where'd these come from?" 

Ruki gave an annoyed snort. "You and I were pretty messed up when we got here. We were probably the only ones who fought worth a damn besides Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas, so it was to be expected. Anyway, when we got here the friendly neighborhood Floramon and Yokomon decided we needed new clothing." 

"So they made up Elf clothes? Why?" 

Her eyes rolled. "Because we're Elves?" 

"But how did they-" 

"You are such a dumbass!" The Tamer threw her hands into the air, "they patterned it after Legolas' outfit because he's an Elf, too." She said this as if it were terribly obvious and Takeru sighed as she continued; "they figured that's what we'd want to wear." 

"Hm." Takeru made an agreeing noise and began to pull the tunic over his head, wincing because of his ribs. Without a word, Ruki turned and left, the door slamming shut behind her. _She's the same as ever._

It took him longer to get dressed then than it ever had in his entire life, including, he was sure, before he could dress himself. Of course, it was also the first time in his life that he'd been so badly hurt, as the bandages that were currently wrapped in several layers around his chest, ribs and side attested to. 

Still, he didn't feel truly _dressed_ until he'd strapped his bow and quiver to his back, and buckled his scabbard around his waist. Once the sword was weighing in his hip, he felt ready to face the world. 

Naturally, because of how long he had taken, he got a sarcastic retort from Ruki (who had been waiting for him outside) when he finally stepped out, shutting the door behind himself with a much softer sound than she had. Fortunately, he was too busy squinting from the oh-so-wonderfully-bright sunlight to reply. 

"How long was I out?" 

There was a long pause before Ruki responded, and Takeru began to doubt that she would. 

"A while." She told him finally, "nearly a week." 

"A _week_?" The blond asked incredulously, "I must have been worse than I thought." 

Ruki said nothing, and simply continued to walk; Takeru regarded Primary Village with concern. Everywhere he looked, there were digimon. Floramon and Yokomon seemed to be the most common, besides the various newly-hatched ones, but he saw many others as well. It was strange, as the only adult digimon that normally resided in Primary Village (to his knowledge) was Elecmon. 

__

Centarumon. Unimon. Snimon. Kuwagamon. Allomon. Tyranomon. Airdramon. Meramon. Half of them are virus-types. Why would they be here? Blinking, he had to take a second look when he saw an all-too-familiar flash of black leather. _LadyDevimon?! What the hell?!_

"You've noticed." Ruki stated. 

"Of course I _noticed_!" Takeru snapped, jerking his eyes to Ruki when the LadyDevimon he had been staring at blankly noticed him and winked in his direction. "What the fucking hell is going on here?" 

"They have gathered for war." 

Takeru turned, looking at Aragorn when the Ranger's voice sounded from the side. "Aragorn." 

Aragorn smiled slightly and reached out to clasp Takeru's arm. "You look much better." 

"Somehow I doubt that." The Child of Hope replied dryly, "Aragorn, what _war_?" 

They were approaching the center of Primary Village, and as they did the number of digimon dwindled... there were less of them, but more of them were familiar. The digimon that belonged to the other Chosen Children. And Guilmon, playing with the baby Botamon and a dragon-ish digimon he didn't recognize. Terriermon, napping under a tree, leaning against Hyouga's side. The Warg had a supremely contented look about him, which Takeru found almost disconcerting. 

Nearby, seated on the strangely balloon-y ground that the Village was known for (or leaning against the huge blocks that adorned the place as well), were the others. Chosen and Tamers alike, as well as those from the Fellowship. Minus Gandalf, of course, and Boromir, and... 

__

Where's-? 

"Takeru!" 

"Patamon, hang on, you've got to-" a moment later he grimaced when his partner happily collided with his chest. "Okay, okay! Ow! Patamon, watch the ribs already-" 

Patamon grinned sheepishly, "sorry. I forgot." 

"Uh-huh." The blonde gave him a flat look and plucked him up. Setting the digimon on his head, he waited for Patamon to settle into the familiar position (granted, he hadn't used Takeru's head as a pillow for quite some time) before crossing his arms. "So? Isn't anyone happy to see me?" 

Silence, then; "what are you? A fucking idiot or something?" 

Takeru blinked, turning to his brother in surprise. "What?" 

Yamato pushed off of the block he had been leaning against, glaring. "Are you stupid?" He snapped, nearly repeating his previous words. "Aragorn told us how you got hurt, Takeru! You're a Goddamn moron! Next time, fucking run!" 

Staring, Takeru frowned for a moment, then suddenly smirked, chuckling. 

"What the hell is so funny?" 

Clearing his throat, the blonde nodded in Hyouga's direction. "You try outrunning him, Yamato, and then say that again." 

Yamato scowled, then sighed. "You're still an idiot." 

"That," Takeru agreed quite readily, "I _will_ admit. And ow." Wincing again, he rubbed his side gingerly, glancing at Jou. "Thanks for patching me up, but I feel like I've been hooked into a rug." 

An odd association, but strangely accurate. 

"Eighty six stitches, Takeru." The older boy said. 

"Well, shit." A sigh. "And just when we're going to war. Which reminds me-" 

"Hm," Aragorn met his gaze severely, and Ruki made a worried noise as she paced over to lean against a block next to Renamon. "That is why, I am told, so many digimon of so many types have gathered in this Village." 

"Who told you that?" 

"Taichi." 

"But who told _him_?" 

"I did." Another familiar voice, this one low and booming, and everyone turned to look at he who had spoken. 'Mixed' was the best word to describe the reactions of those present as the speaker continued. "I am also the one who spread the word, calling for the digimon and telling them to meet here." 

Mimi's voice rose, calling happily; "Leomon!" 

Of course. Leomon. He had always been the one to keep an eye on the Digital World, and he was the one to whom most digimon would listen. He also, Takeru mused, would probably get along quite well with Aragorn and Gimli. Ogremon, however, who was standing next to Leomon, would be another story. He was far too similar-looking to an Orc for his own good. 

It was strange that he was such good friends with Leomon. Not that either one would admit it. 

__

Gee, that sounds like someone else I know. Takeru thought with a sarcastic look toward Ruki and Legolas, who, though standing next to each other and so close they were practically touching, continued to pretend to ignore each other_. I hope they get around to it some time this century. It's starting to get -- hey..._ about that time, he noticed the expression on the orange-haired Tamer's face. 

"Ruki, what is it?" Legolas wondered. 

She pushed from the brick, catapulting herself forward, and glared toward Taichi, "why the hell didn't you _tell_ us that there was a Leomon here?!" 

Taichi blinked, "I... didn't think... why?" 

Ruki growled under her breath and her gaze flicked toward Juri. The girl was standing, her eyes wide and her hands shaking, staring at Leomon, who was staring back at her with a calm but slightly confused look. 

"We should have guessed..." Lee said quietly, "that they would have a Leomon as well..." 

Takeru watched, concerned, as Juri's eyes filled with tears and she clutched her D-Power tightly, the screen dark and silent. The feeling of grief and despair that radiated from her and all the other Tamers was terrible, and at the same time... 

A whisper. "There's a feeling of hope as well." 

Being the Chosen Child of Hope, Takeru was especially sensitive to it. 

Silently, Juri released her D-Power, leaving it to fall back to her side where it had been clipped before. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes, and then swallowed thickly before sitting back down where she had been, her head down and her eyes on the ground. 

"Juri..." Hikari reached out and laid a tentative hand on the other girl's shoulder, "do you want to talk about it?" 

Juri shook her head, "not now." 

"Alright." The brunette looked reluctant to let the subject drop. 

"After all!" Suddenly far-too-happy, Juri looked back up to give Hikari an obviously forced smile. "There's more important things to talk about, right?" 

"Yeah..." 

Takeru turned back to Ruki, concerned by the reaction she'd had to Leomon's appearance; something was obviously wrong, as she had been even more distraught than Juri. Now, she stared at the ground, clenching her hands into fists, before kicking backward violently, her foot connecting with the brick. She then slammed herself backward, crossing her arms. 

Beside her, Legolas murmured something, to which she snapped; "no!" 

__

Whatever the hell is wrong with her, it must be serious if she's yelling at Legolas. Still, Takeru chose to change the subject as opposed to pursuing it as he wanted to. "Leomon," he called, catching the digimon's attention and ignoring the suspicious looks Gimli was shooting at Ogremon, "what is happening in the Digital World?" 

"A war is brewing, Takeru." 

"Between who?" 

"That," Leomon said, "is what we are unsure of. We digimon know not but the danger that has come to our world and yours -- something that does not belong in _either_ world. The force that we have gathered to fight is beyond the boundaries of good and evil, and must be stopped." 

"How do you know this?" Gimli demanded. 

"All the digimon know," Agumon spoke up, "so we're all coming here to help out!" 

Takeru, who was beginning to tire again, sat down on a lower brick, asking; "why here?" 

"This is the last place we can go." Palmon explained, "nearly all of the Digi-World has been taken by the White Human!" 

"Saruman." Aragorn stated darkly. 

"He has set out to conquer." Leomon told them, directing his words toward Aragorn, "and even as we are gathering here, his forces are marching toward us from Mount Infinite." His eyes hardened, "the white tower appeared there a few days ago, and since then the Digital World has fallen into disarray." 

"You plan to fight?" Takato asked, sounding shocked, "_Here_?" 

"Primary Village is all we have left," Tailmon stated. "All we have left to protect." 

__

So any digimon who are still alive are coming here, to fight. Takeru looked down, studying the ground intently as he thought. _I can't see any of them backing down. Vaccine types... data types... even virus types. They'll all fight together, this one time. They have something even more important than age-old rivalries, now._

This much was proven by the lack of fighting going on between Leomon and Ogremon. 

"This Saruman," Leomon continued, "is he not the same one who has taken Ken?" 

"_What_-?!" Takeru shouted, his head snapping up. _That's what Gandalf said in my dream... _

Taken... 

By Saruman... 

"Takeru," Aragorn's voice broke through his frantically spinning thoughts. "It happened while we were in battle against the Wolf-riders. Ken was taken by the Black Riders, and your friend Daisuke... he's been killed." 

"_Killed_?!" The blonde was on his feet in an instant, despite the screaming of pain from beneath his bandages, "what the hell do you mean?!" Glaring, he managed to grate out; "if I didn't know you, Aragorn, I'd say this was a very _fucking unfunny joke_!" 

The look the Ranger gave him would have made anyone else wince, but Takeru ignored it in favor of continuing to glare. 

Ken... 

Taken by the Nazgul... 

Daisuke...

Dead...

"We were waiting until you woke, lad," Gimli told him, "and then we were going to set out after him." 

Flatly. "No. I'll do this on my own." 

Shocked silence, then; "Patamon Armor Shinka! Pegusmon!" 

"Pegusmon-?" 

"Takeru," the armored digimon said, "let's go now!" 

He nodded, and placed his hands on his partner's back, intending to vault onto his back. Pain flared again and he winced, gritting his teeth. Taking a breath, he tried again -- and a hand caught his arm before he could push himself of Pegusmon's back. 

"Takeru!" Yamato yanked him back, "what the hell do you think you're doing?!" 

"Let go, Yamato!" Takeru ordered, a dangerous edge to his voice. Blue eyes glinted as he regarded his brother coldly. "He's gone to far this time! The Digital World is in ruins, and he's marching on the last of our _friends_! He's kidnaped Ken! Daisuke's _dead_, Yamato, because of Saruman!" 

"You can't go like this! You'll be slaughtered!" 

Takeru snarled, jerking his arm back, "I'm going to make sure the son of a bitch doesn't do what he's set out to." 

"Takeru-" 

"Fuck you!" He snapped, "you stay here, Yamato! I'm going to fight." Non-existent tears welled in his eyes, though they remained dry. "You should all stay anyway. Primary Village can probably use all the help it can get." 

With that, he turned quickly and, with Pegusmon's help, managed to get himself onto the digimon's back. 

"Takeru." 

Aragorn's voice. 

"_What_, Aragorn?" 

"I will go with you." 

The blonde paused, turning slowly to regard the Ranger. "Why?" 

"We set out from Rivendell together, Takeru. We survived because we were together. We were a Fellowship then, and I will continue to honor that." Aragorn met his eyes. "We are still comrades, Ken included, and I will not leave him to Saruman." 

"Aragorn-" 

"And I." Legolas interrupted. "I will go as well." 

"You can count me in!" Gimli roared, already packing up his axe. 

Takeru glanced around. _Why does this sound so familiar?_ He thought sarcastically, then had to give a surprised blink when Ruki pushed away from the wall to stand with Legolas and Gimli. Renamon appeared in a blur of yellow to join her Tamer. The Hobbits... would have offered to go as well, had Aragorn not taken them aside and firmly explained that Frodo should _not_ travel to Isengard while carrying the One Ring. He asked the others to remain behind and make sure Frodo stayed safe. 

"Me too!" 

"What?" Ruki snapped, "Takato! You goggle-brain, you can't-" 

"I can and I will." Takato stated firmly. "You guys are going off to fight this all-powerful Wizard, right? You'll need all the help you can get, and I might not be good with a sword, but at least with me around you'll have Guilmon." He looked at Takeru, "and you saw what he can do when he Evolves!" 

Takeru had to give him that. Growmon could walk through a smaller Orc horde and annihilate it on his own without trying. 

"Fine." He nodded. "You can come." 

Ruki snorted. 

"Takeru," Wormmon sounded as if he wasn't sure if he should say it, but was determined to do so. "I... need to go with you." 

Though Wormmon, without Ken, could not evolve, Takeru could see where the digimon was coming from. He would have preferred that he stay behind, but he knew that Wormmon wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. Not in this case. 

A slow nod. 

It was decided. 

They would all go, and the others would stay behind to prepare Primary Village for war. 

__

This is....what Gandalf told me.... 

And despite his better judgement, he allowed Pegusmon to de-evolve again, and waited for the others to pack supplies and weapons before they headed out.   


~*~*~*~*~*~

****

Elvish Corner!

Legolas: Aa' menalle nauva calen ar' malta.

Aragorn: "May your ways be green and golden."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Me: I like this chapter! 

Hikari: It was less violent than some, I suppose. 

Kenta: A lot of swearing, though. 

Me: ^.^ 

Juri: Leomon...

Ruki: The second thing I saw... in Galadriel's mirror... 

Legolas: Do not despair. The future is always changing. 

Ruki: Hm…


	14. Chapter 14: Kutsu

**Rating:** PG - PG-13

**Warnings:** [violence] [language] [het] [shounen-ai]

**Pairings:** Takeru/Ken, Ruki/Legolas, Daisuke/Juri, Lee/Takato, Ryo/Hikari & Iori/Shuichon

**Notes:** Ne, minna! I've set up a website dedicated to the whole Digimon/LoTR thing: http://www.geocities.com/digital_mirkwood/ It's got the main fanfics, as well as art I've done and fanart, an encyclopedia, soundtrack info, etc. In a month or so I hope to have it finished, so right now there are some empty pages. ^_~ I'm looking for submissions, so if any of you have doodled or written something that pertains to the Digimon/LoTR fics in your spare time, or have a suggestion for a theme song for a character, etc. send it in: digital_mirkwood@yahoo.com

****

Disclaimer: *gets struck down from above by lightning* ^^;; (If you read the disclaimer in the last chapter, you'll understand this. lol.) Despite what I may claim, I don't own Digimon or Lord Of The Rings, nyao nyao~! =^-^=

****

Digital

Chapter Fourteen: Kutsu (Anguish)

Ken woke face down, to a pounding headache and complete darkness.

__

Oooh…

What had happened?

He tried to recall…

He had been picked up by the dragon-like creature, which had carried him out over the trees and out of sight of his friends. He had struggled, of course, but that had only made it grip him harder -- the pain in his shoulders reminded him of that. Finally, exhausted both physically and mentally, he had given up, though the claws had already been pushed through his clothing and into his flesh.

He couldn't remember much else, besides trees blurring together below him.

__

I must have passed out. Or they hit me…

His head throbbed again and he squeezed his eyes shut for another second before opening them again.

__

They definitely hit me.

Swallowing, which was hard given the dryness of his mouth and throat, Ken shifted a little; stone, cold and hard, was all he could feel beneath him. After another moment of stillness, he attempted to sit up, only to be rewarded with the loud clank of metal against metal.

__

Of course. Restraints.

Without being able to see, he somehow managed to work around the chains and sit up, checking his surroundings as he did so. He couldn't feel anything besides the floor, and, behind him, a stone wall. His fingers sought the chains and followed them down to his wrists- thick metal cuffs bound him to the wall.

The Child of Kindness laughed weakly; he even recognized the cuffs, he thought, as one of the kinds he had used during his time as the Digimon Kaiser. Although he had used them for more versatile things than simple handcuffing people to walls. Still, cruel irony was not something he felt like dealing with right then.

Especially after…

"Dai…"

He struggled through the roaring pain in his head; the memories of what had happened… to Daisuke… faded in and out of his mind, and he closed his eyes. The redhead had been his best friend for such a long time… he could barely recall a time before Dai had been there. It had been Dai that had pulled him out of the shadows of the Dark Spore and his life as the Kaiser, and taught him about kindness and friendship again. He had been the first one to accept Ken for himself, flaults, flaws and all. He had always been a bright spot…

Without him...

__

I might sink into Darkness once more.

If he had been human, tears would have welled in his eyes. As it was, he swallowed against the lump that rose in his throat, choking him.

__

Come on, Ken, he chided himself mentally, disturbed by his own weakness, _what would the others say if they saw you here, sniffling in a corner? _Taking a deep breath, he sniffed and leaned to rest his forehead on his knee. The chains clinked as he moved, making him sigh. And aside from the restraints, his clothes had a strangely… congealed… feeling about them. Oh God…

The blood that had poured over him when Daisuke had died still soaked him from head to toe, and was apparently on the verge of drying. Still sticky and clotted, Ken shuddered, gagging at the idea.

__

Dai's blood..!

Quickly shoving those particular thoughts to the back of his mind, he took one deep breath after another, trying to keep himself calm. He had to get out of the chains. He had to get out of… of wherever he was. He had to get back to the others. He had to do _something_.

__

Think, Ken, think!

His mind seemed to be going numb, but finally he managed to decide the best course of action, and as he saw it he had two options. One, search his clothes and see if they had left anything on him that might help him to get out of the chains and escape, and two, pretend to be dead and then make a run for it when they came in to check on him.

Of course, should he attempt the first option, he wasn't sure he could take on whatever was outside the cell door by himself. And should he decide on the second one, even if they fell for his faking-dead, they were likely to chop him into tiny bits for good measure, anyway. Or possibly lop his head from his shoulders and leave it stuck on a pike, Vlad-The-Impailer style, for his friends to find.

Which was not a pleasant thought, to say the least.

__

So what do I do?

He continued to ponder, leaning against the wall and shivering from the cold of the stone floor against his still-damp clothing for some time, with no success. His thoughts were… less than adequate. He couldn't think of why, but his mind was working about as slowly as a sloth's.

"I must still be in shock." This was muttered vaguely, and his mind flitted over the events of that day, resting again on Daisuke. And he thought of the most pointless thing he possibly could; _I never picked up his goggles-_

The – ahem -- train of thought was interrupted when a door across from him opened suddenly, pouring light into the cell (which, Ken now saw, was not really a cell at all. The walls were flat stone, the same as the floor, and rose up above his head some way, making him think of being trapped in the ramparts of a castle.) The hinges of the door screamed, and he could practically picture the rust as he winced, his head pounding under the harsh impact of the sound.

"Get him up."

Though he certainly didn't recognize the voice, he could tell it belonged to an Orc… they all had the same sound to them, in his experience. Whether it was a normal Orc or one of the mutated ones that Saruman had created, he didn't know. And somehow he just couldn't get himself to care.

A second later he was being hauled to his feet and slammed backward against the wall while the chains that secured him were removed from the stone. The shackles remained, and the creatures who had come in after him used the now-free chains to lead him along, jerking him out of the room.

"Ah!"

Ken stumbled on the threshold, and the Orc -- yes, they were normal ones, as opposed to Saruman's super-Orcs -- yanked on the chain again, making him fall forward, and then reached down to pull him up again.

A strange look gleamed in it's eyes, and Ken realized with a start and a welling of dread inside of him that he was still in the form of an Elf… which, given that he was in a place that was _teeming_ with Orcs, was probably not a good thing…

Sneering, the Orc slammed a fist into his midsection, making him double over, and then released him and started forward again, dragging him along behind itself. Ken gasped for air, unable to regain his breath as the creature continued to jerk him along.

__

I have to do something… if I don't…

He didn't want to think about what would happen if he didn't escape.

But his mind was still working too slowly to be of any help; he continued to allow the foul beast to drag him through twisted hallway after twisted hallway, toward… really, what his destination was, he didn't know. He didn't _want_ to know. He _wanted_ to be anywhere but where he was. He _wanted_ to be with his friends. He _wanted_ to be with Takeru! He _wanted_ to go back and stop Daisuke from doing such a _stupid_ thing…

...he wanted a lot of things, and he wasn't going to get any of them if he didn't get out of the cuffs and manage to find a way to escape.

__

So, what are you waiting for? A voice inside his head told him, _just attack them. They won't be expecting it, and you'll get away…_

Stupidity. He responded, _there are way too many Orcs in this place for me to take on by myself._

That doesn't sound like you. You've become weak.

What?

Ahead of him, the Orc jerked on the chains once more, making him almost-trip, and he scrambled to keep his footing as the creature continued to walk. The shackles on his wrists pinched his skin painfully and he winced.

__

Come on Ken, don't kid yourself. You used to be strong, and now you're just a sniveling weakling, A peon like all the rest of them.

I'm not… they're not…

'I'm not… they're not…' A mocking tone. _You're just the same as them. Just as expendable._

Ken paused, shocked when he finally realized who he was having a mental conversation with. _No… he's gone… he's been gone for… ever since..._

Obviously not, the Kaiser laughed in his head, _you didn't realize just how much of your personality I was, did you? Well, I suppose that's par for the course. _A snort; _you know, Ken, the only reason I'm here is because you want me to be._

No, I don't!

You think you can get out of here on your own?

He had a good point. 

No, wait! Ken shook his head. What was he thinking? He wasn't agreeing with the Kaiser, was he? He could and would get out... there… was a way, right? He could… wait until they weren't looking and…

__

With your hands cuffed and that Orc holding the chains?

Shut up! Shut up! If he could have, the bluenette would have clamped his hands over his ears. _I don't need you! I don't want you to be here! How could I?! You're a monster-!_

And right now we're in a nest of monsters. The Kaiser countered smoothly, _so it seems that I'm better suited to getting us out than you are, wouldn't you agree?_

Maybe…

A moment of weakness on his part, and the Kaiser quickly took advantage of it, rising from the dark place he had been hiding to overwhelm Ken's mind. Within seconds, he was pressed down into the corners where the Kaiser had formerly been, and his body was moving, seemingly on it's own.

The Kaiser curled his fingers around the chain that was hanging from his wrists. Eyes narrowed, and he waited for the perfect moment for-

"Now!"

-leaping forward, he yanked the chain from the Orc's gnarled hands and, before it's comrades could react, wrapped it tightly around the creature's neck. Bracing a foot against it's back, he pulled, straining against it's strength and cutting off it's air. 

__

What are you doing..? Deep in his own mind, Ken couldn't be angry at the Kaiser for attempting to kill the foul thing, but it still had no idea what could possibly come from it.

__

Hush and watch… uh, this is taking far too long.

Snorting angrily when the Orc didn't die fast enough -- the others were beginning to come out of their shock and head toward them -- the Kaiser gripped it's head, one hand on each ear, and jerked, snapping it's neck cleanly. 

It fell with a grunt, and Ken had to marvel. _I didn't think I was that strong…_

That, Ken, is one of the bonuses to having an Elven body, it seems.

The dark voice that responded in his head, though the Kaiser's, was different somehow… he couldn't place the difference, really, but he was… more pleasant than Ken remembered. And more systematic. The bluenette shivered, a mental action as he no longer had control of his body, and watched through far-away eyes as he turned to face the other two Orcs.

The encounter ended faster than he could have imagined.

__

Would you like to see what you can do if you choose to?

I-

Without letting him finish, the Kaiser jumped into action again. His hands still bound, he swung the chain, putting all of his muscle behind it, and slammed it into the side of the first Orc's head. The creature was thrown to the side and hit the stone wall, snarling, only to be on it's feet again in an instant.

Ignoring it, the Kaiser focused on the second Orc. Dropping down as it reached him, he spun, kicking its legs out from under it. And as it hit the ground, he was already next to it. Snatching the short sword from its belt, he slashed across it's throat without even a second's hesitation.

Then, chains still jingling, he whirled and thrust the weapon into the gut of the other Orc even as it reached him, having recovered from it's collision with the wall. Smirking, the Kaiser jammed the metal up under the creature's ribs, twisting, and then released the sword, letting the Orc fall.

"Hm." Looking down thoughtfully at Ken's hands, which were covered with the sticky black substance that passed for Orc blood, the Kaiser clucked his tongue. "That was far too easy."

__

Too easy?

A sigh, _yes, well. Shall we go?_

Shocked, Ken could only nod dumbly, and the Kaiser stooped to retrieve another sword before quickly and stealthily starting down the corridor. 

Two personalities, two beings, silently crept down the hallway. Internally, Ken attempted to wrap his mind around what was happening. _This isn't any better! _He was practically wailing. Granted, it was a silent wailing, but still… _I wanted to get OUT! I wanted to be with my friends again! With Takeru, not with -- with -- the Kaiser!_

A feeling of amusement came from the Kaiser. _With Takeru…? _He mused, _an interesting choice, I must say. I really would have expected you to end up with that Daisuke character. Though, I must admit I'm more than glad you managed to avoid the purple-haired wench. SHE was altogether too annoying. She grated on my nerves._

Miyako just-

Continuing his silent creeping through the halls of wherever-they-were, the Kaiser chuckled mentally, cutting off his sentence. _Tell me, what it is about the Child of Hope that you like? _A pause and a snicker, then; _it's his Luke Skywalker-esque complex, isn't it?_

If Ken could have stared at him blankly, he would have. 

__

You obviously have no idea what I'm talking about. Ah, well, it's no wonder. You never were one for movies. He stopped then, peering around a corner. A half-smile quirked from the Kaiser as his eyes landed on a troupe of Orcs, which were seated outside a high set of double doors. _Lazy creatures._ A tsk, _I wouldn't have stood for that. Saruman should do something about it._

A shiver from Ken. The tone in the Kaiser's voice making him nervous again.

"I think we'll be going in there." 

Hearing his own voice with the Kaiser's edge was unnerving. _In where?_

There must be something important beyond those doors, pet.

But… the Orcs!

Now, now. We've been through this before, haven't we? Stepping around the corner in a low crouch, the Kaiser approached the unprepared Orcs with a stealth that was almost unnatural. _I can easily dispatch this pathetic bunch._

But-

Something was wrong, and Ken could tell. They were supposed to be finding an escape route, not exploring. And now the Kaiser was looking to pick a fight with Orcs… and was making observations about Saruman's ruling

How did the Kaiser know about Saruman?

__

I'm in your head, Ken, of course I know. 

No. The Kaiser was a completely separate personality… he wouldn't know… would he? Maybe this had something to do with the One Ring… maybe Takeru was right about it's pull on him.

__

Ah, the Ring. A tacky trinket, that, though I should like to see what it could do.

Oh no… the problems just kept getting larger and larger. Ken decided he'd had enough and began to struggle against the Kaiser's hold on him. _I'll get out of here on my own!_

Stop that, the Kaiser chided, _or you'll make me lose my concentration._

Then, ignoring Ken's pathetic struggles, he swept toward the Orcs, frighteningly gracefully.

The first one fell before any of them knew what was happening, and the second one followed quickly, as it reached for it's weapon. With three left, the Kaiser's confidence rose and he allowed a partial chuckle as he deftly avoided a clumsily charging Orc and turned to slash across it's neck as it passed.

The final two were dispatched shortly, leaving the hallway empty and the Kaiser barely out of breath.

Ken continued to struggle. He had to get control back… he _had_ to…

"My," a laugh, "I think I could get used to being an Elf." 

Dropping the now-blood soaked sword, he stepped up to the doors and pushed. They opened without so much as a creak, and he walked boldly into the room beyond, despite Ken's frantic attempts to stop him.

__

I can't let him-

The doors slammed shut behind them, making him jump.

And at about that moment, Ken realized that the Kaiser was gone from his mind, having vanished completely. Blinking, shocked, the bluenette attempted to make sense of the situation to no avail.

"Well, that certainly was entertaining."

Whirling to his left, Ken stared at the man who had spoken. Though he had never met the infamous Saruman the White, he had no doubt that was who he was looking at now, and he stifled a gasp.

Saruman arched an eyebrow, "you have potential, Young One."

"W-what?"

The Wizard took a stop toward him, making Ken retreat in the same way.

"You need not run. I have a proposition for you."

Silence.

Saruman tilted his head to the side slightly, tapping a nail against his staff, and regarded Ken thoughtfully. "You have something I am interested in." He informed the Child of Kindness. "And I can take it forcefully, yes, but I would much prefer your cooperation."

"Cooperation..?"

"Yes, well, you are in interesting being and I would much rather keep you alive."

Dread welled up inside him, and Ken gulped. _I can't do anything… I'm unarmed, and… if what they said is true… he's… stronger than Gandalf was…_

"Yes, Gandalf the Grey pales in comparison to me." Saruman told him with a knowing tone, making him jump. "Do not kid yourself. Should you be uncooperative, I will do anything in my power to retrieve what I want from you." He paused, then added; "but first there will be much pain for you, and you will wish you had been gifted with death before I am willing to give it to you."

Somehow, Ken got the feeling that this was a 'join me or die' speech, and despite the fact that he knew how dangerous Saruman was, he simply could not bring himself to agree with the Wizard. There wasn't a single part of him that was willing to cooperate.

__

I can't…

Saruman sighed, pressing his lips together angrily. "That is your decision, then?"

Ken faced him, hoping he looked as determined as he felt. "I will not help you."

"As you wish," a wave of his aged hand and the doors behind Ken opened to admit a handful of Orcs. They latched onto Ken, who struggled vainly, and began to drag him from the room. "Perhaps he needs not die yet. Take him to the dungeon. Torture him. Do what you wish, but do not kill him." Turning a flat eye on Ken, he spoke to the bluenette directly, "and remember that you may stop the pain at any time, my Elf friend."

Ken looked away, repeating; "I will not help you."

"Hm," anger welled in the Wizard's face, and as the door was closing behind them he added, "be sure to use the whip. I'm told that he used to be particularly fond of it." 

~*~*~*~*~*~

Me: A short chapter this time. Can you tell I had trouble with it? I had to just close my eyes and plough right through it and hope for the best. *sigh* Ken was being altogether too stubborn and it bothered me to no end. Oh, and for those of you who might not have understood, the words just in italics were the "Kaiser" talking, and Ken's thoughts which were in arrow-brackets were his responding.

Ken: Well, really. I'm sure they had _no_ idea.

Me: Sarcasm? That's different for you, Ken.

Ken: Yes, well, I've had a bad day.

Me: *sigh* Ah, so everyone's aware, I know Ken's internal dialogue with the Kaiser is similar to Gollum talking with Smeagol. I was afraid it would be _too_ much like it, but I think I managed to avoid sounding like Ken was turning into a creepy-critter, too. ^^;; The entire thing with the Kaiser was kind of important to the storyline, though, so I couldn't just cut it out…


	15. Chapter 15: Kurayami

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Rating: PG - PG-13

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Warnings: [violence] [language] [het] [shounen-ai]

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Pairings: Takeru/Ken, Ruki/Legolas, Daisuke/Juri, Lee/Takato, Ryo/Hikari & Iori/Shuichon

**Notes (for Syenite Kai):** You have a sick mind, my friend. ^-^;; Actually, to tell you the truth, Saruman's last line disturbed me, too. I didn't even notice how sadistic it sounded until I'd already finished the chapter and posted it, and then it was too late. I'm kinda' afraid to admit it, but I like the way the last chapter turned out. ^_~ Ehe.

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Dedication: Prosopopeia! Wow. I hope I spelled your name right. ^^;; Ehe. Yay! Glad you like my ficcies… you found them at Tarnished Wings? ^-^ I'm infinitely proud to have my fics posted there. I love the site, so when Meimi asked if she could post Company and Digital I practically danced. Anyway, yes, Company followed the movie plotline. :p I'm ashamed to admit this, but I have yet to finish the books. *ducks flying fruit* Aside from that, by what I've read the books are a lot more intricate than the movie turned out to be so (yes, this is a copout…) doing Company by the movie was easier. Also, I completely and 100% respect your right to hate Arwen, even if I'm still kind of iffy on the subject. (I haven't decided how I feel about her yet…) *sigh* Ne? Really? *goes to check* Oh my. I didn't catch my misspelling of Nazgul before. Domo arigatou for pointing it out. ^^ *fixes* Yosh! I love stubborn, tough and opinionated Takeru, too! He's fun to write, even if he keeps picking fights with Ruki…

Takeru: _She's_ the one who-

Me: *clamps hand over mouth* Not _now_!

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Disclaimer: I. Don't. Own. Digimon 02. Tamers. Or. Lord of the Rings. (How's that for a bunch of really short sentences? ^_~ Boo-yah! lol.)

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Digital

Chapter Fifteen: Kurayami (Darkness)

Not for the first time in his life, but certainly for the first time in years, Takeru found himself acting as a guide to the Digital World. This was partly due to the fact that, of those who had set out to Mount Infinite with him, he was the only one who knew the way. It was also due to the fact that Aragorn insisted he not overwork himself, which the blonde found only semi-annoying, as he was still in considerable pain.

_My wounds are healing well, though, thanks to Jou and whatever Digimon-medicine those Floramon gave him._ Currently standing beside Aragorn, Takeru was attempting to remember which direction to go. He had done well, for the most part, but he hadn't been to Mount Infinite since the… unfortunate… incident with Devimon and Angemon when he was seven years old. _I count myself lucky that I've gotten this far without walking everyone off a cliff._

He didn't say this out loud, obviously, as Ruki was within hearing distance and the last thing he wanted was to give her more ammunition. Damn her. Sighing, Takeru frowned, glancing to the right, then turned his gaze to the left. The trees, no matter which way he was turned, all appeared to be the same. 

"Which direction?"

The Child of Hope looked at Aragorn, "it's been a while since I came through here…"

Behind him, Ruki snorted. "You're lost, aren't you?"

Defensive. "No! Just give me a minute to think, okay?"

The girl glared. "You know how ruthless Saruman is! The more time it takes for us to find this Mount Infinite place and Isengard, the more chance there is that Ken will be _dead_ when we get there!"

Takeru fought against the anger that bubbled up inside him, "don't you think I _know_ that, Ruki?!" He snarled, "of course I do! I'm not an idiot! What do you think is keeping me going? I'm hurt badly enough I should still be unconscious, but Ganda-" he broke off, hesitating, and turned, putting his back to Ruki.

Tension was obvious within the small group, though the reasons for it were still partially vague. This was the first time that Takeru had openly admitted (being the stubborn person he was) to the severity of his injuries, first of all, and most of them had a sneaking suspicion that he had been saying "Gandalf" before cutting himself off. Only Takato and Guilmon were in the dark, and no one cared to enlighten them right then.

Aside from that, Ruki's comment about Ken had obviously put him on edge.

Everyone was silent for a moment, waiting. 

"Ken's in trouble." He said finally, "and that's why I'm here, but rushing through the forest and getting lost won't help so shut the hell up and let me think."

Ruki, who had seemed surprised at first, by the force behind his original outburst, had quickly regained her normal expression. Rolling her eyes, she crossed her arms and waited – with a semblance of patience – as Takeru inspected the trees.

On his shoulder, Patamon fidgeted to get his attention. "I think it's left," the Digimon told him, "but I'm not really sure, either. The Digital World changed a lot after BelialMyotismon and Oikawa…"

"I know, Patamon."

Patamon fluttered up from his perch, "I'll go up and look. I'll be able to see Mount Infinite from above the trees, right? Hang on and I'll be right back."

Without waiting for a response, Patamon vanished, and Aragorn turned a concerned eye on Takeru. The blonde, unaware of the Ranger's gaze on him, brought a hand to his ribs and winced, then took a deep breath as he forced the pain from his eyes.

"Takeru."

"Yeah?" He looked at Aragorn, dropping his hand to his side again. "What, Aragorn?"

"You are in pain."

"No shit." Takeru laughed, though it was a humorless one. "I'll live."

"Despite my warnings," the man fixed a hard stare on him; "you are pushing yourself too hard."

"Not this again…"

"Takeru, you will only make your injuries worse by-"

"Aragorn!" Takeru threw his hands up, exasperation in his tone, "what do you expect me to do? 

"I expect you not to push yourself, and I am beginning to become annoyed by your _constant_ ignoring of my orders."

"Orders?" Another laugh, "no offense, but I'm not going to-"

"You realize, do you not, that you are beginning to bleed again."

"What?" The Child of Hope blinked, glancing down at his side. The motion made him wince again, and he shook his head when he noted the tiny spots of blood that were beginning to show through his tunic. "Damn it."

"Perhaps now you will listen to me?"

Noncommital. "Perhaps."

Aragorn shook his head, "at least re-bandage the wounds before Patamon returns and we continue on."

That, he had to admit, was probably a good idea. Nodding, he watched the Ranger search through the pack of medical supplies Jou had given them, and then accepted a roll of bandages. Seating himself on a nearby rock, he began to strip off the various layers of clothing he was wearing.

If he had to choose one thing to complain about when it came to Elvish-style clothes – or, in fact, any clothing styles from Middle Earth – it would be the numerous layers involved in each and every outfit. 

By the time he made it to the last layer, his side was screaming again and he wished he had gotten something from Aragorn for pain as well. Naturally, he didn't say anything, and instead concentrated on getting finished with the re-bandaging as soon as he could.

He didn't like being so exposed.

Granted, he was still dressed decently, but the feeling of being… naked… was familiar to him, especially during the times when he wasn't armed. Right now the feeling was tolerable, as he still had his sword strapped to his hip and his bow was only an arms length away.

Wincing, he unwound the bandages that were already wrapped several layers thick around him from his shoulders to his waist. Dried blood caked the inner layer, and the newer blood, sticky, was smeared across his side. "Shit." 

"Here, give me that."

The blonde looked up, surprised. "What?"

Ruki held out her hand. "Just give me the bandages."

Takeru was floored. "Why?"

She rolled her eyes, "so I can wrap you up again, you jackass." 

"But-" he couldn't have been more confused if he's tried. He blinked when she made a disgusted noise and snatched the fresh bandages from his hand. Within seconds she was wrapping them efficiently around his ribs, and Takeru could only wonder. _Uh… o-o-okay._

"There." Tucking the end of the bandage in so that it wouldn't unravel, she shoved the remaining strips into his hand and stood. "You wouldn't have done anything but hurt yourself, anyway."

And she spun on her heel and left to snap at Takato, who was giggling over something with Guilmon, and tell them both to be more serious.

Takeru stared blankly.

_What the hell just happened here?_

Footsteps beside him and he could hear the amusement in Legolas' voice when the Elf stated; "she claims to have no friends and need none, but that could not be farther from the truth. She cares for all of us, more than she would be willing to admit. Hers is a special soul."

The Child of Hope snorted, "no offense, Legolas, but you're kind of biased."

"That could be true." Legolas agreed vaguely, "but, should you think about it, you will most likely find that I am right."

He had to agree, though he did so silently. He and Ruki _were_ friends, grudgingly, and he knew that – deep down, under her Ice-Queen image – she really did care about him. And, without saying so, obviously, he cared about her as well. 

_Just not in the same way Legolas does._

"How are your wounds?"

The abrupt change of topic made Takeru glance up at Legolas, even as he began to pull the first layer of his clothing over his head. Tucking the thin material of the undershirt into his belt, he shrugged. Which was stupid, as it made his stitches ache. "I'll be fine."

One of Legolas' eyebrows raised and his lips quirked into a half smile, "that was not what I asked."

"Okay, okay." Takeru sighed, pulling on another layer. "They hurt like hell, and I'm bleeding again, so think I might have popped a stitch. Better?"

"Much. I do not appreciate half-truths." 

"For your information," the blonde informed him, standing as he laced up the front of his tunic, "that wasn't a half-truth. I happen to be confident that I won't die, thank you."

Legolas chuckled, "that _is_ true."

After a moment, Takeru looked at Legolas curiously. The Elf's eyes were trained on Ruki as she conversed with Renamon, who had recently appeared again in a blue of yellow fur. "Legolas, can I ask you something?"

"Hm? Of course."

"Have you fallen in love with her?"

"_Mani ume lle quena?_" Legolas yelped, his dignity dropping several notches for a split second as his gaze jerked from Ruki to Takeru. He composed himself quickly, before anyone else could notice, but Takeru had to curb the urge to snicker at the Elf's expense. "W-what?"

"Very smooth." The Child of Hope commented with a grin, "am I to take that as a 'yes'?"

Legolas gave semblance of a glare at his words, muttering; "antolle ulua sulrim," under his breath before sighing and glancing back toward Ruki once more, "I fear I am becoming transparent."

"Only when it comes to Ruki," Takeru agreed pleasantly, chuckling. His side twinged at that and he winced, reaching a hand to put pressure on the stitches for a moment. "You never answered my question." Then, with a Look, "and I may not understand Elvish, but I'm sure you insulted me as well."

"I apologize. It was uncalled for."

"Apology accepted. So?"

"You do not intend to let this go, do you?"

"Of course not." He followed Legolas' gaze once more, eyeing Ruki as she argued with Gimli about something that was probably unimportant. In any case, it seemed to be a friendly argument so it was nothing to be concerned about. He sighed, "really, I don't get it. But then, I'm not you, am I?"

"That I will agree with." Legolas nodded, "and as I do not completely understand your relationship with Ken, I believe we are even. Therefore," he continued, sounding pleased with himself, "I do not need to explain myself."

Takeru gaped. "My God, she's rubbing off on you."

"I fail to see how."

The blonde shook his head with a sarcastic smile, and looked up when Patamon fluttered back through the trees, appearing to land lightly on his head. Aragorn, who had been seated on another nearby rock, looked up expectantly. Ruki and Gimli fell silent, proving that their argument had been more to entertain themselves than to actually argue. Renamon simply turned her head. She had been watching Takato and Guilmon crack jokes and generally make idiots of themselves in an attempt to lighten Wormmon's spirits.

"Takeru, the Digi-World is different than I remember it!" Patamon complained loudly, peeking down at his partner from where he was nestled in Takeru's hair. "I don't like it. There are mountains where there shouldn't be, and there are caves and stuff! And the lake where Gennai used to live is gone!"

Impatiently. "What about Mount Infinite?"

Happy. "Mount Infinite is right where it was supposed to be!"

"That's good." Takato said, "isn't it?"

"That depends on where _we_ are, lad." Gimli pointed out.

"Exactly," Takeru agreed, "so where are we, Patamon?"

"Well," the digimon considered, "we aren't that far away from it, but the thing is… you know those caves and mountains I mentioned that just popped up out of nowhere? They're kinda' in the way. I mean, the mountains are in the way and the caves go through them to the other side. We'll have to go through the caves."

_Why is it always caves?_ Rolling his eyes, Takeru groaned. "Fucking wonderful…"

"The good thing is that the mountains aren't really far. It shouldn't take us too long to make it through, and Mount Infinite is pretty much right on the other side." Patamon sounded proud of himself, "so we can just go through and we'll be there, right?"

No one said anything as they all contemplated what they had just been told. In the end, though, they could all only concede that they had no choice. It was either go through the caves, or attempt to go over or around the mountains, which could take forever.

_And we don't have forever._ Takeru's concern for Ken was growing. He feared for the other boy's life, and the longer they took (as Ruki had so _kindly_ pointed out previously) the more the chances were of them finding Ken already dead, or not finding him at all. _Damn it, we need to get there!_ Frustration rose in him and he clenched his hands into fists, pushing it back down. "Well?" He asked, even as Aragorn was getting to his feet, "let's get moving."

No one argued, and they set off into the forest once more, this time with Patamon leading the way. Takeru, though he never said as much, was concerned that his lifelong friend may have been wrong about the way to Mount Infinite… after an hour of walking, his concerns had grown. Still, he said nothing. He trusted Patamon… but the travelling was wearing on him. His side was aching terribly, and he found himself unconsciously holding it.

"Are you sure you should be here?"

This time, Takeru didn't even jump when Renamon appeared beside him. "Why?"

"There's fresh blood on your clothing."

"Yeah. I took care of that."

"Still," Renamon argued flatly, "you are far too badly hurt to be doing this. You should have remained in Primary Village."

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were concerned."

"And if I am?"

Takeru smirked, "and if you are?"

"I consider you to be a friend," Renamon informed him, "am I not allowed?"

"You're _my_ friend." The blonde shrugged, then; "I think…"

"Here." She offered a paw, and when he held out his hand she dropped a tiny bundle into it. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a leaf, folded several times and tied with a string. "Sycope paste." She explained, "it's made from the Sycope flower that grows in the Digital World. I thought you could use something for your pain."

"What do I do with it?"

The gave him as close to an exasperated look as she ever could. "Eat it, Takeru. But be careful – too much will put you into a daze, and we need you alert." Though he surely looked confused, she added; "it's bitter… but I had nothing to sweeten it. I was lucky enough to find the Sycope itself."

_She made it?_ Blinking, he turned to thank her – only to find her gone. _Help from both Ruki AND Renamon in one day. It makes me wonder if they expect me to die in the next week or two…_

"Here!" Patamon's voice called excitedly, "look! See? I told you I could get you here!"

The little digimon looked so happy as he hovered in front of the cave entrance that Takeru had to laugh. Plucking Patamon from the air, he set his friend on his head as the others all muttered vague thanks and congratulations. They were all grateful, but they were also galled by the idea of going into yet _another_ cave system…

Darkness was all that could be seen within, and Takeru shivered when his mind conjured up memories of Moria. There was a general hesitation from everyone, as they all peered into the gloom beyond the entrance.

Finally, without a word, Takeru headed inside.

Footsteps behind him, and the others reluctantly followed. 

~*~*~*~*~*~

****

Elvish Corner!

Legolas: Mani ume lle quena?

Aragorn: "What did you say?"

Legolas: Antolle ulua sulrim

Aragorn: "Much wind pours from your mouth." ^^;;

~*~*~*~*~*~

Me: Note the new formatting on all the chapters? I fixed up all of "Company" _and_ all of "Digital"! It took so long… ^^;; So! Whee! New chapter! *is proud* Well, some cute scenes in this one. Oh, please note that I made up the Sycope Flower and Renamon's digimon cure. It's important, though (okay, not _really_ important…) so remember about it. ^_~

Takeru: Caves. What's with you and caves?

Me: They're fun!

Ruki: _You're_ not the one who gets ambushed in them ever time.

Me: -_-;; _Anyway_! I was torn between calling this title "Kurayami" aka "Darkness" (which, obviously, I ended up doing) and "Nozomi" aka "Hope". But despite some of the happier scenes, this chappy fits "Darkness" better, so…


	16. Chapter 16: Moeru

**Rating:** PG - PG-13

**Warnings:** [violence] [language] [het] [shounen-ai]

**Pairings:** Takeru/Ken, Legolas/Ruki, Daisuke/Juri, Lee/Takato, Ryo/Hikari & Iori/Shuichon

****

Notes: Originally, I wanted to have all three of the fics in this trilogy end at an even 20 chapters. Note I said "originally"? Well… I've given up on that hope. "Digital" is going to be 25 chapters long. Oi. *rubs temple* -_-;;

Dedication: Silver Angel! Just because! ^_~ *huggles* lol

****

Disclaimer: If I owned Digimon or Lord Of The Rings, do you think I would settle for just writing fanfiction? No. I'd be off somewhere buying the rights to Orlando Bloom… ^-^;;

****

Digital

Chapter Sixteen: Moeru (Flame)

Ruki was completely and truly fed up with caves, and she got the feeling that everyone else shared her lack of enthusiasm. Though they were all restrained enough to keep from complaining out loud, the nervousness as they traversed the shadowed systems below the newly formed mountains was obvious.

But (as everyone except maybe Takato and Guilmon knew), caves had always been a bad omen in the past, so their distrust of them was well earned. 

Besides that, the last time they had been in a cave system as extensive as the one they were now fumbling their way through had been when they were in the Mines of Moria. At that time, at least, they'd had Gandalf to light the way.

Now, they traveled in silence, with Legolas and Renamon leading the way – they, of all those present, had the best eyesight and could see where they were going.

Though she said nothing, it irked Ruki to no end, knowing that even though she was an Elf, she was still inferior to Legolas. In all truthfulness, it was a good thing it _was_ Legolas. If it had been anyone else, she might have gotten angry…

"How are you doing?"

She glanced to the side at Takato, who was whispering. They hadn't explained why they were being so cautious, but he had obviously picked up on the need to remain relatively silent. Maybe he wasn't quite as clueless as she had thought.

Shortly. "Fine."

Takato wisely nodded and left any dialogue he had planned to the wind. As one of those who was closest to her, he knew better than to push conversation when she was in an ornery mood. "Okay."

He dropped back, probably to check on Guilmon. His partner was carrying Wormmon, whose short insectile legs weren't made for long journeys. Thinking about it, Ruki was surprised that one or both of the digimon hadn't begun whining yet. Though, truthfully, she knew that Wormmon was better than that. Still, Guilmon was the complaining type…

_That's what happens when you're designed by a Doofus. But I guess he's grown up a bit, too._

Ahead, Legolas paused when Renamon blurred into existence beside him, and the two talked in hushed tones among themselves for a moment before the digimon vanished once more and Legolas continued on. They had probably been discussing the direction to take. Ruki sighed and looked to her left, where Takeru was walking with Patamon perched on his head.

She would never say so, but on some level she was worried about the blonde. This was the reason why she had helped him re-bandage himself when they had stopped before. He was stubborn and a royal pain in the ass, and thus would never admit it, but the injuries he had suffered (from a battle with Warg, Aragorn had informed them all at Primary Village) were causing him a lot of pain. Ruki was glad that Renamon had taken the time to mix up the Sycope paste for him, though she was sure her partner didn't realize that she knew.

Takeru frowned slightly and turned toward her. "I know you're watching me."

Ruki scowled. "Hn."

"Why?"

"None of your business."

The Child of Hope paused, then; "you smell that, right?"

Blinking, the orange-haired girl sniffed experimentally. The scent Takeru was referring to was there, vaguely but growing stronger as they walked, and it was so _familiar_. She sniffed again, trying to place it. It smelled like… almost like the time she had baked bread with Takato and Lee, and Takato's had been forgotten about and thusly caught fire. Almost like that, but not quite. 

It took her a moment to decide that what she was smelling was…

…fire?

"Takeru." Her voice was flat, and without thinking she reached up and grasped the blonde's arm, stopping him in his tracks. "Takeru, it smells like-"

_THUMP._

Everyone froze, and Takeru's eyes widened. "It can't be-"

_THUMP._

THUMP.

From the front, Legolas scrambled backward, heading toward them at a frantic pace. The expression he was wearing was one of concern, serious, and also frightened. In the gloom, they all knew what they were hearing. Even Takato and Guilmon, having never experienced the Mines of Moria and the creature of the Shadows were silent, breathing shallowly. 

"What is it?" Takato asked softly, his voice wavering.

_THUMP._

A glow from the far reaches of the cavern.

"Takatomon!" Guilmon growled. The normally lighthearted digimon had assumed a now-familiar attack posture, his eyes wide and his pupils dilated angrily. "Takatomon, it's a digimon! I can smell it! A Perfect digimon!"

"Perfect..?" The goggled-Tamer's voice was weak, and Ruki could understand why.

Even given all of their adventures and battles in the past, they hadn't fought more than a handful of Perfect-level digimon. And those battles had never gone particularly well for them…

_THUMP, THUMP._

The pale light from beyond the shadows grew brighter as the footsteps approached.

Guilmon snarled softly.

_THUMP._

It stepped from the darkness, shadow and flame licking from its body, giving the cave an unholy light. Black holes of eyes stared down at them, a rage that was beyond telling burning in the sockets. Wings flared, sending dust and soot flying.

_Oh my God…_

The Balrog…

Ruki didn't realize she had been holding her breath until her lungs began to scream at her for air. Releasing it in a whoosh, she gasped in another lung-full. Beside her, Takeru seemed to be frozen where he was, staring in shock at the demon he knew to have killed Gandalf. On his head, Patamon was whimpering incoherently, clutching his partner's hair as if it were a lifeline.

Takeru had never seen the Balrog before…

"Ed' i'ear ar' elenea…" Legolas breathed, backing up a step, then; "_rima! Rima ten'ta!_"

He seemed unaware that he had slipped into his native language, but they all got the idea. Behind them, the Balrog roared in rage as they all whirled to raced back the way they had come.

Before, they had only escaped because of Gandalf, and without him…

A vicious snarl sounded from the demon of flame and a sword appeared, forming in its hands from the very substance of its body. Roaring again, it lunged forward, swinging the sword across the ceiling of the cave; the blade collided with the loose rocks of the roof and a mountain of shale fell, partially blocking the exit. Aragorn, who was closest to the rockslide, stumbled backward as rocks rained down around him, holding an arm up to defend his eyes. A moment later, as Gimli reached him, the Dwarf jerked him back just as the bulk of the rocks collided with the ground where he had been standing.

"We're trapped!"

They all stared, eyes wide, at the half-barrier that now blocked their only way out. Behind them, a throaty growl came from the Balrog, and it took another step forward as dust rained around them from the ceiling. Still blocking his eyes as he looked at the obstacle, Aragorn cursed loudly and cast a glance over his shoulder.

"Come on!" Within seconds he was wading through the loose dust and sand, up to his knees in dirt, and began to dig through the fallen rocks. An already existent hole in the new wall began to widen as he worked, his motions frantic. "We've got to get through here!" 

"Right!" Already out of breath, and despite his wounds, Takeru followed the Ranger without question.

Beside them, Gimli had dropped his axe and was starting to dig as well, as had Legolas. Renamon appeared in a blink to help, sending pawfuls of dirt flying.

_THUMP, THUMP._

THUMP.

_No! Fuck!_ The footsteps of the Balrog caused more dust to rain from the now-unstable roof of the cave. Whirling, Ruki could only stare in horror as the demon continued forward. It was close enough now that heat from the fire of it's body could be felt… _We're not going to get through! There's not enough time!_

Behind her, Takeru was obviously coming to the same conclusion. As they worked, the lighter shale and sand just filled in the holes made by the missing rocks as they moved them. The blonde, blood beginning to seep through his tunic once more, threw a handful of stones down in disgust.

"_Shit_!" He swore violently, "this isn't working!"

"What do you propose we do?" Aragorn demanded.

_THUMP._

"Takeru, it's coming!" Patamon's voice had taken on a frantic tone. "It's _coming_!"

"I _know_!"

"Just keep digging, lad!" Gimli shouted, "we've no other choice!"

_THUMP._

Ruki spun, trudging through the dirt, and began to dig. Up to her elbows in rocks and sand, she blinked harshly at the grit that had already become – accustomed – to her eyes. Beside her, Aragorn had the same determined look on his face that Ruki had begun to know so well. Beyond the Ranger, his normally blonde hair turned gray and his face smudged with sand and soot, even Legolas was starting to seem doubtful as the Balrog continued toward them.

How long had they been digging? How long had it been since the Balrog emerged from the shadows? Certainly it seemed like forever, but Ruki doubted it had been more than a minute or so. Time always seemed to slow when death was imminent; though, she thought, the Balrog seemed to be taking it's time.

It knew it had them trapped.

"Come on, Guilmon!"

_What-?!_ Shock radiated from Ruki when she realized that Takato was running _toward_ the demon, Guilmon close on his heels. Forgetting about digging, she whirled in time for the goggled-Tamer to hold his D-Power up. There was a flash of light… _no..!_

"_Guilmon Matrix Shinka! Dukemon!"_

"No!"

She didn't realize she had shouted until the others all turned from the stones in front of them. Her voice echoed hollowly through the cave, a backdrop as Dukemon faced down the Balrog, seemingly unafraid.

"_Takato, you IDIOT!"_

If Takato, inside the digimon, heard her, there was no way to tell. Dukemon's eyes were flat and determined as he held up his lance. The Balrog seemed to sneer, then sniffed the air and flexed its hand. In seconds, the sword metamorphed into a whip. The same whip that had dragged Gandalf into the depths of Moria…

It lashed through the air with a snap, and Ruki's mind flashed back to the Vision she'd had in Lothlorien.

_…as she watched the battle play out before her, her breath caught in her throat. Dukemon struck with his lance... the Balrog countered with it's whip…_

The shout from Dukemon made her look up again, just as the digimon dove forward, bringing the lance down in an arc and colliding with the Balrog. The force of the blow sent the creature back a step, but it had only just fallen back before it lunged toward Dukemon, lashing the whip against his side.

Angry now, Dukemon snarled, his voice a mixture of Takato's and Guilmon's… the sound made Ruki shiver…

__

…Dukemon's lance was sent spiraling out of his grasp to land out of his reach... the Balrog advanced, it's sword of fire drawn…

The lance clashed against the Balrog's arm, making the demon scream, it's unearthly voice causing the caverns to shake. Still pressing forward, Dukemon slammed his shield into the Balrog's side with a crack. The Balrog, enraged, reached up and latched onto the side of the circle, jerking on it in an attempt to make Dukemon lose his grip.

When that failed to work, it shoved, forcing Dukemon back several steps. The digimon grunted, his heels digging into the ground and leaving furrows in the rock. 

And then he tripped…

His eyes widened as he fell backward, and his lance fell from his hand, clattering against the stone as he slammed into the wall. And the whip of fire yanked it away when he reached for it. Snorting, the Balrog clenched its hand as the whip vanished again to be replaced by the sword.

__

…she could hear Dukemon's scream in her head, followed by the sharp crack of a breaking neck...

"_No!_" Again, Ruki's voice rose to echo around the cave, and she gripped her D-Power fiercely. Renamon turned toward her, feeling something from her Tamer that she had never felt before. "_Renamon!_"

"Ruki, what-?"

She couldn't let it happen… she _couldn't_…

"Ruki," Legolas' voice was edged with concern, "what are you-?"

__

"Now!"

Furiously spinning, her D-Power blinked a handful of times and then flashed brightly, a blinding white that made even the Balrog pause. The others all shielded their eyes from the flare…

"_Renamon Matrix Shinka! Tenshisilmon!_"

The light faded, and where Ruki and Renamon had been…

Dukemon's voice was barely a whisper. "That's not Sakuyamon…"

The creature that had replaced the two was barely bigger than Ruki had been, and certainly nowhere near Dukemon's size. Her skin, a pale beige, seemed to glow for a moment as she stared at the Balrog hardly. Her right hand was clasped around a sword, decorated with angel's wings.

"No," she said in Ruki's voice, turning glowing violet eyes toward Dukemon. She regarded the digimon for a moment, and Dukemon stared back at her in shock. A Matrix Evolution should have had a part of Renamon in it, too. This was… not right. "No," she repeated, "I am _not_ Sakuyamon. I am her better, Tenshisilmon. And," she added, flexing her free hand, "I am going to rid this world of the demon of shadow and flame."

"_Mani marte_?!" Legolas demanded, "what is going on-?!"

Ignoring him, Tenshisilmon stepped forward, even as the Balrog scented the air again, trying to get a feel for her power. It seemed to hesitate, and she paced toward it, stopping onto a few yards away.

They stared at each other silently, each one sizing up the other.

And then Tenshisilmon leaped into the air, swinging the sword downward, and imbedded it into the Balrog's shoulder. A shriek tore itself from the demon's throat and it ripped away, pulling the sword from its flesh as it moved.

The weapon fell toward the ground, only to be scooped up by the blur that was Tenshisilmon as she landed lightly on the stone. Holding it out, she flicked a wrist and the sword vanished into nothingness, leaving her without a weapon.

"Is that…"

Takeru nodded, even as Legolas' voice trailed off. "Ruki. Yes."

"But…"

"I don't know."

The Balrog whirled to face Tenshisilmon, rage radiating from it. Dark blood seeped from the wound on its shoulder, getting lost in the wreathing dust and shadows that enclosed its body. She who had once been both Ruki and Renamon faced it fearlessly, raising a hand. Her fingers closed around an invisible bow and her other hand drew back an invisible arrow to match.

"_Diamond Arrows!_"

As she shouted the words, a bow and arrow, created entirely of light, appeared in her until-then-empty hands. The arrow whirred forward, splitting into a half dozen in midair, all of which showered around the Balrog. The light pierced it, making it scream again, and it launched forward, intent on crushing her.

Without a moment's pause, Tenshisilmon jumped upward. The Balrog missed her, skimming underneath as she whirled in midair, raising her hands once more. Another command and a second bunch of light arrows slammed downward to hit the Balrog straight on.

Then, as the creature straightened, enraged, and its sword appeared once again-

"_Dragon Festival!_"

From nowhere, a thin trail of smoke formed into a dragon… or… it appeared to be… a mask. The mask, shining blue, fitted itself to her head. Tenshisilmon's gaze, every violet, continued to glow through the eyeholes.

As she dropped toward the ground once more, the mask trailed behind her.

She hit the ground lightly and sprang back up, pushing from the stone. She was moving so fast, when she slammed into the Balrog, that she herself appeared to vanish, and the dragon moved on it's own, eyes blazing.

The Balrog was thrown backward into the wall, but rebounded more quickly than anyone could have imagined; caught off-guard, Tenshisilmon gasped, eyes widening, when its hand flew out and smacked her back. Just a blur, she collided with the far wall in a cloud of dust and sand. When the air cleared, the mask was gone. Gritting her teeth and with a Look at her now-torn clothing, she climbed to her feet as the Balrog came toward her, it's footsteps creating fake thunder in the caves.

Her eyes hardened and her sword appeared again as she pushed off the ground. Swinging it downward, she landed against the Balrog's chest and _stabbed_ – and the tip of the sword lodged in the demon's rocklike skin.

She _jerked_, and the sword refused to come out.

"_Kuso!_" Tenshisilmon swore, her voice too much like Ruki's for everyone's comfort.

-and the Balrog's hand clamped around her, yanking her away from it. The sword vanished when, spinning, it slammed her into the wall, pinning her there, and leaned all of its weight against her, crushing her into the rock. 

"Ruki!" The Elf started forward, as if to try-

"Legolas, no!" Aragorn caught him before he could go more than six steps, and forcefully held him back, ignoring his struggles. "No! Uuma! Dina, Legolas! You cannot help her!" 

He looked ready to argue…

Across the cavern, Tenshisilmon screamed sharply as the Balrog swung its hand, slamming her into another wall, and then threw her to the ground. She lay there for a moment, breathing painfully. After a long moment she attempted to call her sword again. It began to form in her hand… and then faded out again as her eyes closed in pain.

Growling, the Balrog reached out, it's sword forming again from the flame of it's body. On the ground, Tenshisilmon turned her eyes upward, a look of resignation on her face. She made eye contact, for a split second, with the demon, then; "_Flaming…_"

Normally, the only creatures who could feel the rising energy of a digimon's attack were other digimon. Now, every living thing in the cave blinked as the sheer power behind Tenshisilmon's words began to rise. The very air seemed to spark, as she shakily pushed herself to her feet. Undaunted, the Balrog reached down and plucked her from the rock, slamming her into the wall yet again. Stone crumbled under the impact and where she had hit indented from the pressure.

Still, the energy level they were all feeling rose.

"Oh my God." Patamon whispered, "Takeru, that's too much… she can't possibly… it'll _kill_ her!"

Takeru had already figured that out, but was unable to think of a way to stop what had already been set in motion. But even as he opened his mouth to respond to Patamon, Dukemon pushed himself off of the ground, grasping his lance.

"_Ahh_!" Crying out, Tenshisilmon's eyes closed tightly as the Balrog continued to grind her into the rock face. Gritting her teeth, she took as deep a breath as she could and began to grind out; "_I-_"

But before she could finish, the Balrog shrieked, making everyone clamp their hands over their ears, as Dukemon thrust with his lance, stabbing it through the demon's back and piercing through to the rock beyond. It's grip on Tenshisilmon faltered, and she slipped from the wall to land in a heap at its feet. Behind the Balrog, Dukemon's face was a mask of anger as he viciously twisted the lance before letting go and dropping back.

The Balrog turned, pulling the weapon out of the wall, and blankly stared at it for a moment before falling forward and landing with a thud that shook the walls and nearly caused another cave in.

For a moment, Dukemon stood over it, waiting, but when the demon didn't leap to it's feet again, he flashed and shrunk, leaving Takato and Guilmon, tired and shaken, standing in his wake.

"Ruki!"

Only then did Aragorn release Legolas, and the Elf scrambled out to where Tenshisilmon had landed, followed by everyone else. A shimmering in the rubble, and as they all watched, Tenshisilmon, as with Dukemon, flashed.

Ruki and Renamon, battered, bruised, even bleeding, and certainly unconscious, lay where the digimon had been only seconds before.

~*~*~*~*~*~

****

Elvish Corner!

Legolas: Ed' I'ear ar' elenea…

Aragorn: "By the sea and stars…"

Legolas: Rima!

Aragorn: "Run!"

Legolas: Rima ten'ta!

Aragorn: "Run for it!"

Legolas: Mani marte?

Aragorn: "What happened?"

Legolas: Dina!

Aragorn: "Be silent!"

Legolas: Uuma!

Aragorn: "Don't!"

~*~*~*~*~*~

Me: Wai~! =^-^= I love this chapter!

Legolas: Is she going to be okay?

Me: Who, Ruki?

Legolas: Uma.

Me: Of course, of course. ^^ She's tough as nails.

Legolas: Hm…

Me: Anyway, impressive, ne? Thankies to Lady Fox (aka Arwen Ronyo) for the Tenshisilmon design! *glomps* Yay! Oh, and for those of you who were wondering, the last attack (which was left unfinished) was "Flaming Ice" and is similar to Sailor Saturn's "Silence Glaive Surprise" attack, in that it is meant to be a last strike. Had she completed it, Tenshisilmon would have died as well.

Tenshi = "Angel" [Japanese]

Isil = "Moon" [Elvish]

Tenshisilmon = "Angel Moon Monster"


	17. Chapter 17: Yoake

****

Rating: PG - PG-13

**Warnings:** [violence] [language] [het] [shounen-ai]

**Pairings:** Takeru/Ken, Legolas/Ruki, Daisuke/Juri, Lee/Takato, Ryo/Hikari & Iori/Shuichon

****

Notes: Alrighty! I've got enough of the official Digimon 02/Tamers/LoTR homepage finished that I posted the first contest! It's an art contest, so if you're at all interested go to Digital Mirkwood (see chapter… um… 14 or 15? The address is the notes of one of them…) and check out the "Contests" page! ^_~

****

Disclaimer: The Gods don't see fit to bestow the rights to Digimon or Lord Of The Rings upon me, and I don't feel I have the right to question them.

Digital

Chapter Seventeen: Yoake (Daybreak)

_Shadow and flame…_

"You shall not pass!"

Shadow and flame…

Gandalf, falling into the abyss.

Shadow and flame…

"Guilmon Matrix Shinka!"

Shadow and flame…

Dukemon's neck snapping sharply.

Shadow and flame…

"Renamon! Now!"

Shadow and flame…

Herself, slamming into the ground.

Shadow and flame…

The Balrog reaching downward.

Shadow and flame…

Herself again.

Shadow and flame…

Crumbling into dust under the demon's grip…

Ruki woke with a start, jerking upright and gasping for air. It took her a moment to calm herself as the disjoined images of her nightmare continued to whirl through her head. They faded slowly, only to be replaced by confusion as she attempted to figure out where she was. She didn't recognize the bedroom room at all…

_So where the hell..?_

Her entire being ached, almost as if her soul had taken the same beating her body had. Forcing the Matrix Evolution with Renamon, obviously, had not been the smartest thing she had ever done.

But… she had already seen two of the visions from Galadriel's mirror come true, and had not – despite what she may say about them – been prepared to watch Takato and Guilmon die.

The entire fight had become a blur of dust and fire in her mind. It had the same detached feeling as a dream… or the nightmare she had just woken up from, only she had the pain to prove it had actually happened.

"Shit…"

Movement in the corner of her eye and the door opened as Legolas stepped through, carrying a bundle of cloth in one hand and a bowl in the other. He shut the door behind himself quietly, then walked over and seated himself in a chair next to the bed, setting the bowl and cloth on the bedside table.

He regarded her thoughtfully. "How do you feel?"

Ruki snorted, wincing. "Crappy, thanks."

A half-smile graced Legolas' features, and he reached to pick up a piece of cloth. After carefully dipping it into whatever liquid the bowl contained, he turned toward her once again. "Wormmon tells us that this is a cure for pain." He told her, "he and Patamon mixed it from a plant that is native to this World."

Her voice took on a semi-suspicious tone. "What does it do?"

"If you will allow me…" he seemed unsure, but continued anyway; "this will dull the pain of your wounds, and dissuade bruising. I will help you apply it, if you would let me."

Ruki hesitated, unsure, but the screaming pain that seemed to originate from _everywhere_ made her decide. "Fine."

Both she and Legolas were silent for a time, as the Elf gently bathed her various wounds in the slightly purplish and sweet-smelling concoction. Oddly enough, Ruki found herself feeling nervous.

A frown. _I'm delusional._

"Tell me," Legolas said finally, without glancing up from her arm, "why did you do that?"

"What?"

"Your attack on the Balrog." The Elf clarified. "It was not an intelligent thing to do. You could have been killed."

The concern in his voice made Ruki scowl. "I had to."

"Why is that?"

"Takato would have…" sighing angrily, she trailed off and jerked her arm back from him to cross it with the other. "What does it matter? It's done, and it was stupid, but I can't change it now."

Legolas regarded her silently, then reached out and grasped her arm, pulling it gently but forcefully back out. As he continued to wash the bruises she was continuing to develop, he asked; "what is wrong?"

Ruki rolled her eyes. "Nothing, okay?"

"You have been acting strangely," he continued, "ever since Daisuke was lost. What is troubling you?"

"None of your business." Again, she pulled her arm back, this time swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and standing. Hissing painfully, she held her side when agony flared from what seemed to be a particularly bad wound.

"Lie down." Legolas' voice was low, but commanding, and Ruki was surprised to hear so much force behind it. Of course, she was less than pleased to be ordered around, so…

"No."

She started for the door and behind her she could hear the Elf rise and follow. After only a few steps, a hand caught her shoulder, stopping her from going any farther. Turning, she glared angrily at Legolas.

"You are injured. Please return to your bed."

"I don't want to."

She knew how childish she sounded, and didn't care. 

Legolas sighed. "Ruki, please."

"Why do you care?"

"Because I am worried about you."

"Why?" 

A pause, then; "just return to your bed, and allow me to finish cleaning your wounds. Then I will leave you be."

Ruki was silent, and after a second he began to steer her back the way they had come. Ruki allowed him to do so, turn between anger and another, much less familiar, emotion.

There were a few tense moments as Legolas continued his work and she stared to the side, trying not to look as vulnerable as the felt (and was curing herself for feeling). Finally, when he was finished with the potion that Wormmon and Patamon had mixed up, the Elf set the cloth and bowl to the side and looked at her.

"Renamon is recovering well," he told her. "She was hurt badly when you first separated from her, but she will be alright. She wanted to come and check on you, but Aragorn told her to wait until you were awake." He stood. "I will send her in."

She watched him turn to go, an internal battle raging, and he was almost out the door before she found the strength of will to speak.

"Legolas."

He paused, turning his head to glance back at her. "Yes?"

"I saw Dukemon die."

He looked confused, as well he should have. "I… am not sure I understand you."

Ruki turned her eyes downward. "When we were in Lothlorien, Galadriel… has me look into her Mirror, and I saw three things in it."

Frowning, Legolas hesitantly walked back toward her. "What did you see?"

A shaky breath, and Ruki forced herself to calm. Weakness, especially on her part, was not an option at this point, "I saw Daisuke. I saw _him_ die. At the time, I didn't recognize him, but when I first met him I knew who he was…"

The Elf lowered himself into the chair once more, watching her intently. "You witnessed his death?"

Ruki nodded shortly. "And I saw Leomon… alive… in our World, he died a long time ago. He was a good friend, and was Juri's partner." Legolas nodded, as some things he had seen were now beginning to make sense. Ruki, who's hands had begun to shake ever-so-slightly, clenched them into fists to keep them still. "And I saw Dukemon, fighting the Balrog… and loosing."

Silence.

Carefully, "why did you not tell us?"

Ruki shrugged off his concern. "I asked Galadriel… if there was anything I could do to change the future, and she said that it was always changing. That what I saw might not come true…"

"You should not have kept this from us. You hurt yourself in doing so. Had you told us… I could have helped…"

Neither of them noticed that he had slipped from _we_ to _I_, and Ruki blinked harshly, as if tears were stinging her eyes. Though of course, there were none. "I didn't believe her… all that death and violence… it couldn't have been true." She laughed harshly; "and then Daisuke died. And I still thought I could do something to change it…"

"Is that why you attacked the Balrog?"

"I saw what happened to Daisuke, and then Leomon… I couldn't do _nothing_! Dukemon was going to lose! He had fallen, and the Balrog… I… did the only thing that I could."

Legolas nodded understandingly.

"There was nothing I could do, and I just… snapped."

"But you _did_ do something." He insisted, "and you saved Takato and Guilmon from certain death by doing it." A pause, and he added sadly; "but I still wish you had told me."

"Why..?"

"You need not have suffered alone."

Another moment of silence, and, much to Legolas' surprise, Ruki smiled back. Heartened, the Elf brushed his fingers against her cheek, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her newly-pointed ear, and then trailed them down to her shoulder. Leaning forward, he touched his forehead to hers, then, his lips brushing her ear, whispered; "do not keep such things from me in the future."

Surprising even herself, Ruki nodded. "Okay."

"I am glad, then." Standing again, Legolas turned to leave. "I will tell the others that you are alright. Some of them will wish to see you."

"Renamon?"

The Elf smiled when she asked about her closest friend. "I will tell her first."

"…thanks…"

He didn't say anything more, and instead vanished into the hallway that lay beyond; Ruki caught a glimpse of what could have possibly been picture frames on the walls. Walls that had a familiar oriental look about them. She sighed, suddenly realizing just how badly her body ached, and leaned back against the headboard.

_We can't have gone back to the Real World, can we? So where the hell are we? Last time I checked we were in a cave. A bigass cave. One with a resident Balrog._ Snorting, Ruki crossed her arms, despite the complaints of her muscles. _This bites._

She wasn't one to just sit back and do nothing, and being bedridden was something she was especially displeased with. Though, she considered, she wasn't _actually_ bedridden. The only reason she had returned to the bed was because Legolas had told her to…

She got up.

The room was a good size, though not huge. Besides the bed, which was large enough for three people and sported a carved headboard, there was also a dresser and a desk, as well as a handful of chairs scattered around. A large window, with yellow curtains pulled across it took up half of one wall. And besides the wallpaper, which was a hideous mix of pink, purple and blue flowers on a yellow background (Ruki was almost disgusted – there might as well have been cartoon puppies singing "It's A Small World"), the entire décor was very classy. Whoever lived there obviously had good taste… except when it came to wallpaper, apparently.

Walking to the window, she pushed the curtains aside to look out, hoping to get some sort of clue as to where she was. A dry riverbed met her gaze, and in the distance were mountains. Those weren't what caught her attention, though. Her eyes immediately trained on the spike of white marble that rose into the sky, the base of which was only, at the most, half a mile away from where she was currently standing. 

"Isengard..?"

"Yes."

Ruki felt the familiar presence of her partner and didn't even turn when Renamon paced forward to stand beside her. The digimon stared seriously at the spire of white, and Ruki echoed her silently.

"Renamon, where are we?"

At that, Renamon turned to look at her. "We are in the residence of one of the Digital Guardians of this dimension."

"Meaning?"

"Gennai's house."

"Hn." She pursed her lips. "Didn't Patamon say that the lake where Gennai used to live was gone?"

"Yes, but he was mistaken." The digimon gestured to the dry lakebed – which Ruki had mistakenly thought was a riverbed – with one paw. "The lake is still there. What you are seeing through the window is what outside viewers would see. Gennai used a barrier program of some kind to create the illusion that both the lake and his home had vanished."

"And… we got here, how?"

"The others brought us. After the battle with the Balrog, we were both unable to travel-"

"We were unconscious."

"-and so they carried us. I'm told that Gennai was waiting for us when we emerged from the mountain caves. He brought us here, and set about treating the both of us. I believe, had it not been for him, you and I may not have survived."

"Then we owe him one."

"Yes."

A pause, and Ruki's eyes were once again drawn to the tower. "I'm not sure I feel safe, being this close to Saruman… and at the same time, Ken is right _there_. We should go in and get him now."

Renamon chuckled, "that's what Takeru had been saying ever since we arrived."

"Yeah?"

"Aragorn refuses to let him storm Isengard outright. More than that, he is insisting that Takeru stay here when we go in to get Ken."

"He's hurt that badly, and still wants to attack Saruman himself? What a fucking idiot."

"Aragorn said much the same thing, only in different words."

"I can imagine." Turning from the window, Ruki wandered to the nearest chair and sat down heavily. Standing for even that short of a time had made her lightheaded, and despite how she hated to admit it, she needed the rest. "Renamon, about what happened… back in the caves…"

Renamon was silent, frowning. 

"I… I'm sorry about that. It was stupid of me."

"It's done. You don't have to apologize."

Still, though Renamon insisted she need not have said so, Ruki felt substantially better for it. Wincing, she rubbed her right shoulder, trying to massage away some of the ache. Her memories of their time as Tenshisilmon were vague and fragmented, but she could remember the impact of slamming into the ground… more than once. She suspected that the pain in her shoulder was due to one of those times, but couldn't be sure. Renamon, now that she really looked, seemed to have some out of it better than she had. A few scrapes, some of them stitched, marred the digimon, but other than that…

_But she's got fur, so I probably just can't see all her injuries._

"Renamon?"

"Yes?"

"Let's never do that again."

"…my thoughts, exactly." 

~*~*~*~*~*~

Me: Um, apparently I write a good fight scene? ^^;; I never knew. Seriously, when I read my own writing I always find any fight scenes or romance scenes to be _way_ too corny. I it's true that you're your own toughest critic. ?_?;; Meh. I'm not sure how I feel about the Ruki/Legolas scene in this chapter – it's cute, but… well, you know how I just said I find my romance-y scenes corny? This one is no exception. :p I guess it's okay, though. ^-^

Ken: …is there even such a thing as a _good_ fight?

Me: That was a while ago, Ken…

Takeru: She said fight _scene_…

Me: ^.~

Ken: …'cause it kind of sucked for Ruki…

Ruki: Hn.

Renamon: It was less than pleasant for me, as well.

Me: ^^;; Ehe. Gomen, gomen! I love Tenshisilmon! *huggles* Well, I promise there will be more than talking in the next chappy. ^-^;; But this one had a bit of an explanation and whatnot, so… wow. I'm getting chapter out fast lately. Three in a week is a record for "Digital"…


	18. Chapter 18: Gomon

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Rating: PG - PG-13

**Warnings:** [violence] [language] [het] [shounen-ai]

**Pairings:** Takeru/Ken, Legolas/Ruki, Daisuke/Juri, Lee/Takato, Ryo/Hikari & Iori/Shuichon

**Notes:** Yay! More reviews for "Digital" than "Company", and in less chapters so far! Kya~! *glomps everyone* We'll see if this of-so-wonderful trend continues when the third in the trilogy comes out, ne? ^.~

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Notes (for Dameus): Well, there was a bit of the Dai/Juri pairing earlier, ne? All the pairings are listed, including the ones that are past and the ones that have yet to be evident. ^^

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Notes (for DracoStarbo): Yosha! I'm back in my Digimon/LoTR groove. =^-^= Glad you're pleased. Oh, what's this? Name-calling? Well, nyah! *sticks tongue out* :p lol. Actually, I'm _quite_ happy, thank you! ^-^;; Eep. *shies away from batting eyes* Um… I can't guarantee anything, but I'll try for four chapters in one week between now and the end of the trilogy. Records are fun to break! Tra la la…

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Disclaimer: I don't own. The end. - this is the shortest Fairy Tale ever written! Ehe. ^^

Digital

Chapter Eighteen: Gomon (Torture)

His side was no longer bleeding, for which he was grateful, as it made sneaking out in the middle of the night infinitely easier. 

Takeru sent a silent thanks to Gennai, who had managed to come up with a program to "fix the errors in his data". That sentence might have seemed odd to everyone else, but he had understood almost immediately. _Almost._ At first, though, he'd stared blankly. Then he'd remembered that upon transporting to the Digital World, all of them had been converted into data.

Whatever. He didn't care about the reasons so much as the result.

__

Which is a hell of a lot less pain, thank God.

A lot less pain, but unfortunately he hadn't been reduced to none. While all the cuts and wounds where he had been stabbed and/or shot and/or slashed, as well as his ribs, had been healed, he still carried several large and nasty looking bruises, and his muscles continued to ache if he moved too quickly.

None of it was _too_ debilitating, though, so he counted himself lucky.

He wondered for a second why Gennai hadn't used the same program on Ruki and Renamon. They had both come out of the stint as Tenshisilmon with injuries that were just as bad or worse than his… maybe it had something to do with them both having been unconscious when they arrived. 

__

It doesn't matter. In fact, it serves Ruki right for being so stupid and attacking the Balrog like that.

He really didn't mean that.

Sighing, he slipped out from under the covers and headed for the door, with a quick glance around at everyone else – Gennai didn't have enough beds for everyone, so they were sprawled on the floor in various places around the living room. They didn't stir as he edged around them and toward the exit.

The only one who wasn't present was Ruki, who, as the only girl in their company, had been given Gennai's one and only official guest room. She and Renamon were asleep, he assumed.

Unless she'd had the same idea he did, in which case there was likely to be trouble.

At the exit, he paused long enough to pull his boots on (he had, as with the others, slept in his clothes). Then he strapped his bow to his back and his sword to his hip before opening the door and slipping outside with only a whisper of cloth to tell of his leaving.

__

Why do I get the feeling this is going to be infinitely stupid?

Probably, he mused, because it _was_. But, he was sure, there was no chance of getting in and rescuing Ken if all of them went together. Saruman would surely catch them. What was required was a single person to slip between the cracks in the Wizard's security.

Besides that, Takeru had been flatly _forbidden_ to go into Isengard at all, damn Aragorn to hell. Even after his treatment with whatever-program-Gennai-had-produced-from-nowhere, the Ranger had been adamant. Probably because he knew Takeru's temper, and could already tell that he would do something idiotic once they were inside and faced with the man who had kidnapped the Child of Kindness…

Takeru had to give him that one; he really wasn't sure that he could keep himself calm under the circumstances. Not that it was going to stop him from going in anyway. Sometimes he was too stubborn for his own good, as Patamon had pointed out to him so many times in the past.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Jumping, the blonde stifled a yelp and whirled to face the speaker. 

Patamon sighed, "Aragorn said _not_ to go."

Takeru scowled. "You expect me to just sit around and twiddle my thumbs while Saruman does who-knows-what to Ken?"

The digimon somehow managed to give the impression of raising an eyebrow, despite his lack of them. "Just because he's your boyfriend doesn't mean you have to run off and fight Saruman yourself, you know."

"Who says I'm going to fight _Saruman_?" This was said with what could almost pass as a grin, and Patamon rolled his eyes, fluttering over to perch on his head and looking down on him reproachfully. "I'm just going to sneak into Isengard, find where they've got Ken, break him out and come back here before the others wake up in the morning."

A blank stare.

"What?"

"Oh, well," Patamon told him sarcastically, "I was just thinking that if that's _all_ then I have no reason to be worried."

Takeru snorted, "come on, Patamon, you know we can't _all_ go in."

There was a momentary lapse in the conversation, and then his partner heaved a suffering sigh, nodding reluctantly. "Yeah, but I don't want _you_ to do it. Let Aragorn go! He was planning on doing it, anyway."

"Of course he was." Takeru smirked, "I just beat him to it."

"You are far too stubborn."

The blonde could only note that he had just been thinking about that, and he reached up and plucked Patamon from his hair. Holding the digimon out in front of him, he gave him a serious look. "I'll come back, and you know I will. Just wait here, and if I'm not back by morning you can rat me out to Aragorn, okay? But wait at least that long."

Patamon's wings fluttered nervously. "…fine."

"Thank you." 

Releasing him, Takeru turned his gaze toward the spike of white that was too close for Gennai's comfort. After Patamon's original report, saying that the Child of Hope had been surprised to find Gennai waiting for them upon exiting the caves was an understatement. What had been even more surprising was finding the Guardian's house in the middle of what appeared to be a dried up riverbed, and still standing only a short distance from the tower of Saruman.

"Good luck, I guess."

The blonde turned a grin toward his lifelong partner and friend. "It's no big deal, Patamon." He assured him, despite the fact that he knew he was only saying it to make the digimon feel better. "I'll be back in no time."

"Yeah."

Sighing, he gave a short wave and shifted his sword on his hip, then started forward. He was just reaching the edge of the riverbed, and was about to disappear into the trees, when he heard Patamon's voice again and paused, glancing back.

"Ne, Takeru!" Patamon said brightly, forcing himself to sound optimistic. "Vanya sulie!"

"Patamon, what-?"

"It's Elvish. It means "fair winds". A goodbye and good luck, I guess." Despite having forced the optimism into his voice, he sounded distinctly proud of his revelation and Takeru chuckled. "Gandalf taught it to me when we were in Middle Earth. It's all I know, though."

"Well," Takeru nodded, "it's two words more than _I_ know, so don't knock it." Turning again, he stepped through the haze of the trees and Patamon vanished from his sight. "See you, Patamon."

Patamon's reply was muffled and vague and he sounded sad, making Takeru frown when guilt attempted to well up inside of him. He quelled it, ignoring the feeling. He would be fine, and so would Patamon. In fact, he would be back before anyone even knew he was gone.

He hoped.

__

Well this was a good idea.

Even given his experience in the Digital World, he had never attempted to traverse its forests alone during the night, and quickly thanked his lucky stars that he hadn't. The only reason he didn't get lost immediately was because the tower of Isengard rose far into the sky above the trees. Try as he might, with his destination that apparent he just couldn't lose his way.

__

The only reason I'm not wandering lost is because of Isengard. How's that for irony?

Snorting to himself, he winced when one of his bruises twinged and rubbed it absently. None of the injuries he was still carrying would hinder him in a fight, but they still bugged the hell out of him.

He never had liked being slowed down, and now was an especially bad time for it…

It took him less than a half hour to make the trek to where the forest broke to make way for bleached white stone, and when he reached that point he stopped again before leaving the cover of the trees.

"Holy crap."

His head tilted sharply upward and he groaned as his eyes sought the top spires of the tower. Turning his gaze down again, he searched the walls of the fortress for an opening, noting a small set of steps and a door, guarded by a handful of Orcs, that were almost hidden by shadows. 

He didn't see getting past the Orcs being difficult, as there were only five.

The problem would be getting to it, as a crater that dove down into the earth too far for him to see it's end from where he was standing took up most of the area between himself and what he had to assume was the entrance to Isengard. From inside the huge crack in the ground he could smell fire and metal, and his ears were picking up clanging sounds that reminded him of a blacksmith's operation. A thin boardwalk of steps wound down from the edge, vanishing into its depths.

__

Okay, so my options are going AROUND, or trying the pit and hoping there's an entrance in there. He paused, stepping back into the trees far enough to feel safe again. _Now I get to ask myself… if I was a sadistic and evil Sorcerer bent on World Domination, would I keep my prisoners locked in my tower with me, or in the depths of the Earth for my henchmen to take care of?_

He mulled this over for a few moments, and eventually decided on going down. From what he had been told about Saruman, he wasn't the kind of person to get his own hands dirty, and chances were that he wouldn't want any prisoners to be kicking and screaming right next to his private chambers.

Squaring his shoulders, the Child of Hope sent a silent prayer upward before starting out of the foliage at a low crouch, his hand already on the hilt of his sword and his eyes (yes, he was glad for the Elven senses) trained on the few Orcs that he could already see.

"Oh, man… Hikari would kill me if she knew."

This was muttered under his breath so quietly that he himself could barely hear the words. Hikari, while still retaining her position as his best friend, was probably the only person he was really afraid of.

Normally, she was sweet, she was innocent and she was soft spoken.

The proverbial Girl Next Door.

__

But HOLY HELL, if you piss her off…

He had seen the angry flash in her eyes once or twice, and it had scared the hell out of him. Frail as she was, he got the feeling she would _definitely_ kick his ass when she found out about _this_ particular stunt.

__

There's no reason she needs to know – oh! A sudden change in the atmosphere and a scuffling sound from the Guard Orcs made him drop down, pressing himself into the dirt and gripping his sword tightly. His eyes strayed toward them and he watched tensely as two of them sniffed in his direction. _Beautiful. Don't catch my scent. Don't catch it. No. You find me. I'm nothing. No Elf here… _

Despite the seriousness of the situation, he had to consciously stop his mind from adding a silent _'tra la la'_ to the end of the train of thought he was currently attempting to project to the Orcs. 

Damn, his mind was even more random than he'd realized.

__

That comes from hanging out with Dai for so long…

Finally, after what seemed like forever, they seemed to shrug and went back to their duties. Takeru allowed himself to breathe again and inched forward, not climbing to his feet again. Being only a short distance from the walkway that was his destination, he was too close to continue walking upright.

Which meant a face-full of dirt, but he was prepared to make that sacrifice in exchange for not being slaughtered. Which would suck. A lot.

__

Here we go.

With his eyes trained on the guards that were only a handful of yards away, he slipped silently over the lip of the pit, landing lightly on the boards below and then leaning over to look down.

Below him, forges burned and scores of Orcs worked semi-frantically to manufacture what looked like swords, shields, and helmets among other things. Shuffling back, he took a moment to collect his thoughts before starting down the spiraling walkway, hugging the wall the entire time.

The half-crouch that he was moving in was making the bruises across his sides and back ache, and though he was grateful to Gennai for fixing him up, he silently cursed the man for not being able to heal him completely. Like it was Gennai's fault that he was stupid enough to jump headfirst into _every available fight._ His lips quirked into a half-smile at that thought, before he again forced himself to concentrate on-

A hand came down on his shoulder.

Takeru froze, tensing, his heart in his throat. After what seemed like forever, but was surely only a handful of seconds at the most, he began to shift his arm, attempting to get his hand to his sword.

"Don't move." A gravelly voice snarled from behind him. Something sharp jabbed into his back and he stopped again, not wanting to be disemboweled. Another order quickly followed, this one not directed at him; "take his weapons."

__

Shit, they TALK?

Even as he thought that (rather incredulously, as for some reason the idea that Orcs could speak shocked him), the grip on his shoulder shifted and he was shoved against the wall, his face pressed into the rock and sand. Strangely, he thought of an American television show that Yamato watched regularly; "Cops". What the Orcs were currently doing was surprisingly similar to the arrests on the few episodes he had seen, with the exception that there was quite a bit less shouting and swearing. What he recognized as an off-balance giggle rose in his throat and he swallowed it quickly. The sword point (he assumed that's what it was) continued to press into his back painfully, and within seconds, surprisingly efficient hands had stripped his bow, quiver and sword from him. What they did with them, he didn't know. He got the feeling he should be more concerned with that they were going to do with _him_…

"Move, Elf."

He was jerked away from the wall and shoved violently. He stumbled, fell on purpose, looked up for just a moment to get a bearing on where the Orcs were in comparison to him. One directly behind him, two just beyond it, and one to his right. And scores of them only yards below, in what was comparable to the fires of Hell. They appeared to be directing him back up the walkway.

__

Or, I could NOT be a good little Elf…

"Get up!" 

The Orc behind him growled, and the blonde allowed it to pull him to his feet. They should have suspected something, considering how compliant he had been thus far. Instead, they were caught completely off-guard when he abruptly swung around, slamming his elbow into the gut of the nearest of them. 

It doubled over, grunting and dropping its sword, and he immediately dove for the weapon. His hands clasped the pommel just in time for him to whirl and bring the sword up to defend himself. Metal clashed against metal in a shower of sparks, and pain radiated through his arms, making him gasp.

The Orc in front of him snarled viciously and swung its sword again, bringing the blade down like a club. It connected with Takeru's weapon violently and the impact forced the sword down, twisting it in his grip and then forcing him to drop it, lest his fingers all be broken.

Swearing, he leapt to the side as another Orc blade soared at him and the sword dug into the walkway instead. Chunks of wood were torn out and flew in all directions as the Orc wrenched it free.

__

Now what-?!

He was without a weapon, and beyond the three Orcs that were currently advancing on him, there were others approaching. They must have heard the ruckus and come to help their brethren. Takeru grit his teeth, his eyes darting from Orc to Orc as he attempted to formulate a plan.

__

WHAM!

Something heavy collided with his back, sending him sprawling forward. He hit the ground hard and stayed there, dazed. Turning his head, he stared dully for a moment, his mind working to recognize the slightly blurred images that his vision was giving him.

Finally, he came to a conclusion; the Orc he had attacked first had hit him. Stupidly, he hadn't finished it off – the other Orc had attacked, distracting him, and he had forgotten all about it.

Cursing himself mentally, he began to push himself to his feet once more.

__

WHAM!

Blackness.

…..

…..

…..

"Uhh…"

"You're waking up, I see."

The voice was fuzzy and muffled, almost as if whoever was speaking was doing so through a blanket. The Child of Hope wondered vaguely why anyone would do that. Then he realized that it wasn't the speaker, it was him. Groaning, he shook his head lightly, trying to get his ears to work again.

Pain stabbed through his temples and he gasped.

"I would suggest remaining still."

He tried to speak, but his tongue felt thick and dry, and refused to cooperate.

"Yes, I am afraid mayhap they hit you harder than needed."

Lifting his head, Takeru attempted to open his eyes. They, at least, were working better than his mouth. They opened slowly, and he tried to focus. Everything was blurry and it felt as if he had half of the Arabian Desert under his eyelids.

He blinked a few times, and finally the white blurs that had been floating in front of him began to come into more definition.

When he tried to move his arms, which were curiously numb, he discovered that he couldn't.

__

What the hell happened..?

"As I said," the voice told him calmly, "they hit you harder than need be."

Though his sight was slowly returning to normal, everything was still slightly out of focus, not to mention grainy, and all he could make out was a tall figure standing in what he thought to be a doorway. He wasn't sure he wanted to know who it was. Somehow, he just knew that this was not a friend.

He worked his tongue, swallowing, and finally managed a few words; "who are you?"

What came from his throat was barely recognizable as a voice at all, never mind _his_ voice. Across from him, the blur laughed, and Takeru got the feeling that his situation was extremely entertaining to him.

__

Those Orcs grabbed me… and I fought… and they hit me. I must have passed out. Judging by the throbbing pain in his head, that was exactly what had happened. _They probably hit me AFTER I was out, too… and took me… where? Whoever's talking, he doesn't sound like an Orc, so…_ it had taken him this long to get his mind working properly again, but suddenly it hit him. _Saruman..!_

The Wizard chuckled again. "I must say, you are almost as interesting a plaything as your lovemate."

"Bastard." He croaked. "What did you do with Ken?"

Saruman tisked. "I warn you, I do not appreciate being insulted." A sigh, "and as for _that_ stupid boy…"

"_What did you do with him?_"

"I gave him a choice, and he took the wrong path."

"What?"

"There is something I want from him, and he would not give it to me willingly." Saruman clarified. "So, regretfully, I must take it forcefully, which will be a painful and lengthy process."

Takeru growled under his breath. His eyes were finally focusing again and he looked around, trying to get a bearing on where he was and – more importantly – what was nearby that could be used as a weapon. He planned to stab Saruman's white ass as soon as humanly possible.

" Needless to say," the Wizard told him dryly, "I have you securely bound, and all weapons or the like have been removed from the vicinity."

"You can read my thoughts."

"Partially."

"Fucking great." He snorted, testing his arms again. When they not only wouldn't budge, but proved to be as numb as when he had first awoken, he fixed a glare on the magician. "What the hell did you do to my arms?"

"The same thing that I did to your legs, actually."

"Your sense of humor leaves something to be desired."

Saruman raised an eyebrow. "Sarcasm. The last defense of an idiot, and proof that the blue-haired whelp was infinitely smarter than you. At least he was appropriately respectful." A pause, then; "which I must admit surprised me, after the trip I took through the darker parts of his mind."

__

His mind?

Confusion flashed through the blonde, and he tried to figure out just what Saruman could mean. What it all boiled down to was… was what? That Saruman had gone into Ken's mind? Had pawed through his thoughts? Had possibly brought up memories that the bluenette had buried long ago?

"All that and more."

Of course. The mind reading thing.

Takeru scowled, despite the flaring of pain in his head that the motion produced. "You son of a bitch, _what did you do_-?!"

A vague hand wave, as if the question was unimportant. "I must say, the Digimon Kaiser identity of his is intriguing." He seemed to consider, going over in his mind whatever he had done to the Child of Kindness. Takeru's mind, meanwhile, was going over every possibly scenario he could think of in which Saruman died. Violently. The Wizard picked up on those thoughts, too, and smiled vaguely. "A role playing game." He said, the statement seeming to come from nowhere. "I learned of the concept from… as you put it, pawing through the thoughts of Ken Ichijouji."

Anger and confusion warred in Takeru. What was Saruman talking about?

"What I did, aside from learn everything about him, you, and the other Chosen Children, was, in a way, similar to one of your role playing games. That is the closest I can come to explaining it." Saruman sighed. "I very much enjoyed playing the role of the Kaiser. The turmoil it invoked in your friend was more than worth the lives of the handful of Orcs that I killed while inhabiting his body."

"You _took over_ his body?"

"Though he does not realize it was me, as I did so in the guise of the Kaiser."

"Why?"

"I was curious about both he and you."

"Why the Kaiser?"

"As I said, I find that personality intriguing."

Takeru glared silently, then; "I'll kill you."

"Hm. You may try, but I very much doubt you will succeed. In any case," another hand gesture, and the doors opened to admit a handful of Orcs. "You wished to be with your friend, and with him you shall be." To the Orcs; "take him to the other Elf. Do whatever you wish to him, as with the other." And at the eager look on the Orcs, he added; "this life is of no concern to me. You may kill him, if you like. Though," he turned his attention back to Takeru, "I feel they will not allow you to die for some time."

The Child of Hope snarled incoherently as the Orcs hauled him up from the chair he had been seated in. His arms and legs began to burn with the pins and needles feeling of numbness fading away, though he was sure it was magic and not numbness that had kept him still this long. It was wearing off because Saruman wanted him to feel everything that was about to happen to him.

__

I will kill you. He thought viciously at the White Wizard, _I swear I will._

Saruman simply regarded him without concern, and as the doors closed behind them and he vanished from sight, Takeru fought against the impending feeling of defeat and instead concentrated on his surroundings. When he escaped, he would need to know how to navigate the tower of Isengard.

__

When.

And until then, he didn't intend to give them any amount of pleasure from his pain. He remained silent as they dragged him down steps and along corridors before reaching a set of doors, beyond which the blonde could sense pain and anguish. He didn't say anything, even when the doors were shoved open and his eyes caught sight of Ken, slumped in a corner of the small brick room. He kept his lips tightly sealed when they shackled his hands, chaining him to a wall with his face to the brick. 

And Takeru gritted his teeth, refusing to scream, even when the first lash of the whip struck.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Me: ^^;; Um…

Takeru: I hate you.

Me: Ehe. ^.^;;

Patamon: I _knew_ he shouldn't have gone!

Aragorn: Why didn't I wake up when he (stupidly) left the house?

Me: Uh… I don't know?

Aragorn: -_-;; …

Me: Okie, um, I know Saruman probably isn't supposed to be able to read minds, but he can in this, so nyah! :p lol. Also, I apologize. I'm being even meaner to Takeru & co. than usual lately. ^-^;; I had Gennai heal him just so that the Orcs could beat him up again.

Hikari: Oi, oi… 


	19. Chapter 19: Senso

**Rating: PG - PG-13**

**Warnings:** [violence] [language] [het] [shounen-ai]

**Pairings:** Takeru/Ken, Legolas/Ruki, Daisuke/Juri, Lee/Takato, Ryo/Hikari & Iori/Shuichon

**Notes: **And now it's time for a little break to see how everyone at Primary Village is fairing! 

**Notes (for DracoStarbo again!):** So you know, I feel that every story needs someone who doesn't think before acting. And without Dai-chan around I figured that Takeru would probably be the most impulsive (of the 02 Chosen, anyway.) :p lol.

**Disclaimer:** Anything I own don't. Wait, that didn't make any sense…

**Digital**

**Chapter Nineteen: Senso (War)**

Hikari sighed softly and leaned back against the tree trunk, closing her eyes for a second. She was tired. As one of the more frail of the Chosen she always had trouble keeping up with the others – now the rest of her friends, new and old alike, continued to scurry around as she rested.

She felt guilty, really. They were preparing for war, after all, and she should be helping them… in fact, the only reason she wasn't still pushing herself to work was because her brother had insisted that she stop, at least for the time being. The others were worried, too, but Taichi was the only one who would say anything. Well, Taichi and Takeru, and since Takeru wasn't around…

"Are you alright?"

Her eyes opened and she focused on Ryo, smiling. "Yes, just a bit tired."

The boy nodded. "It's good that you're taking a break, then."

She shook her head, looking down. "I should still be working, but Tai insisted."

"Hm. Don't push yourself. It can't be good for you, and we need everyone for when the fighting starts."

Hikari giggled, "so I'm just another pair of fists?"

A grin. "Actually, it's more about your digimon than you, but you get the idea."

Her eyes went to Tailmon, who was overseeing the construction of a makeshift wall that would, they hoped, surround Primary Village before the oncoming army arrived. Monodramon and Gomamon seemed to be half-helping but actually getting in the way, which Tailmon, apparently, found both aggravating and amusing. A few feet away, Hyouga was watching with an ironic look on his face.

"Hey, Ryo?"

He gave her a questioning look. "Yeah?"

"Is it true that you used to know Ken?"

Ryo's lips pursed as he considered, and he stuck his hands in his pockets as he leaned back to prop himself against one of the colorful blocks that adorned the Village. "I used to." He told her, "but he's changed a lot since back then."

"And you missed his Kaiser phase."

"Partially," Ryo agreed, "but when I was in the other dimension – my home dimension, I guess – I saw most of it on the television. That was before I went to the Digital World because of Cyberdramon's somewhat… erratic… behavior."

Hikari stretched her arms out in front of her and then let them drop back to her sides. "What was Ken like when he was little?"

He chuckled, "he was a tough little tyke. He'd already been through a lot, with loosing Osamu and everything. It was kind of like having a little brother, which was fun because I was an only child." A sigh, "but he doesn't remember me, I'm sure. And if he did, he didn't say anything. Though he looked at me strangely when I first showed up."

"He's not the kind of person to forget a friend." Hikari assured him, then; "Ken's still a pretty tough guy, even if he's a bit soft spoken. The thing with the Kaiser really changed him, I guess. Also," she laughed, "you don't even want to _see_ him use a whip. Scary stuff there."

Ryo shook his head, and the conversation trailed off for a moment. Hikari looked over to Tailmon, and giggled when Monodramon tripped over nothing and sent both himself, Tailmon, Gomamon, and the gaggle of Geckomon that had been helping with the construction into a messy heap on the pillow-y ground. Hyouga snorted (was that the Warg equivalent of a laugh?) and got up. Pacing over, he sat down at Hikari's feet and settled himself after she patted his head.

Hyouga's recovery was almost complete, and he was as mobile as ever with the exception of a slight and barely noticeable limp. He seemed to be irritated, though, and through what little empathy she possessed, Hikari could tell that he was annoyed with himself for not being able to help more with the Village preparations.

She knew how he felt.

"Are you worried about Takeru?"

The Child of Light glanced up, her attention focusing on Ryo again. "He's way too stubborn to stay behind, so I didn't even try to stop him from going." She said, "but I wanted to. I guess I wanted to stop _everyone_ from going… but somebody had to find Ken, so…"

Ryo looked sympathetic. "If it makes you feel any better, Takato and Guilmon will do everything they can to keep them safe." He paused, then added sheepishly, "though I have to admit I'm a little worried about them myself."

"_You're_ worried about _Ruki_."

"What makes you say that?"

"It's obvious. You either have a thing for her now, or you used to. Either way you're not quite over it."

The boy chuckled uncomfortably. "Used to, yes, and it wasn't really mutual. She, ah, couldn't stand me. But I can't help worrying about her."   

Hikari laughed and gestured toward the far end of the Village, where Miyako was hanging off of Lee's arm. Terriermon seemed to be saying something, which was probably rude, as the glint in Miyako's eyes suggested. Lee was looking around for someone – _anyone_ – to rescue him, and after a moment Yamato rolled his eyes and left what he was working on to do just that.

"One-sided attraction is something we get a lot of here." She told Ryo. 

He was snickering under his breath, and she tilted her head to the side quizzically in a silent question. After a moment, during which Yamato forcibly dragged Miyako off to work on something with him, he sighed and shook his head.

"Try as she might, she's never going to persuade him to like her. Not in _that_  way, anyway."

"Why?"

"Well, you know Takato?"

Hikari blinked. "Yes."

Ryo pointed vaguely toward Lee, who had continued with whatever work he had been doing before Miyako's interruption. "Lee and Takato have _officially_ been together for almost four months now. Unofficially it's been longer, but they won't admit it."

"Oh." She nodded, accepting it without any hesitation. "They're like Takeru and Ken, then-" she broke off, thinking, and then suddenly broke into hysterical giggles. Beside her, Hyouga looked up at the noise, and Ryo seemed more than a little surprise at the outburst. "Sorry," she managed, once her laughter had subsided enough that she could speak, "it's just that… when Miyako finds out…"

"She won't take it well?"

"She won't _mind_," Hikari clarified, "but… she used to have a huge crush on Ken, and now Lee…" another pause, and she reached up to wipe the tears from her eyes, still giggling softly. "See, both of the guys that she's obsessed over have turned out to… you know… prefer the company of other guys…"

There was a moment of silence, and then Ryo began to laugh as well.

"You see?"

He shook his head, "who do you think will be the first to crack the "you drove them to it" jokes?"

The girl thought about it, and her mood shifted almost immediately when she realized it would most likely be – _have been – Daisuke. She said as much to Ryo and his laughter stopped as well. _

"I'm sorry about Daisuke."

"It's not your fault." She shrugged, "you tried your best."

"Hm." Ryo agreed softly. "It's strange, but I feel as if I know him. Probably because I watched the television show for all those years… but you've known him since you were eleven and I know it's not even close to the same…"

Hikari reached up to brush her hair back, her eyes glistening. When they had been younger she had found Daisuke and all of his enthusiasm and protectiveness, as well as his crush on her, terribly embarrassing. It had been annoying at times. But she had appreciated his attempts to make light of any and every situation. And as time went on she had grown to enjoy his still-childish quirks. 

"Daisuke… he kept us all in good spirits," she vocalized, in an attempt to explain it to both herself and Ryo, "with all of his joking and energy. It's not a word that's normally used to describe boys, but he was _perky. And we all needed someone like that to keep up going."_

He was quiet, sensing that she would say more.

"I especially needed a friend like him… despite his advances on me." A half-giggle. "He only gave that up a little while ago, actually… and he still does it sometimes. But… when we were younger…"

She trailed off, and Ryo tilted his head to the side. "You always had a lot of trouble, didn't you? You and Ken both needed someone like Daisuke. To keep the two of you from losing yourselves to that Dark Ocean dimension…"

Her eyes flicked to him.

_The television show, Hikari._ She reminded herself. _He's seen it all._

Silence again.

Tailmon continued to oversee the Geckomon in construction of the wall.

Across the way, Yamato was forcing Miyako to help him work on whatever job Leomon had given him, despite her objections. Loud objections. Her shouting could be heard clearly even from such a long distance.

Lee looked guilty, and Hikari thought he would probably be giving Yamato a heart felt thanks and apologies as soon as humanly possible. Terriermon, on the other hand, seemed pleased that she was gone.

Ryo was studying her seriously.

"Dai was one of the things that kept Ken and I from giving in to that other dimension," she agreed finally, "he was just to adamant that we were a _team_… and he wasn't about to let even one of us get away." She sighed and smiled at the thought. "So stubborn… the others helped, too… Takeru and Iori and Miyako… but I think in the end Daisuke was the deciding factor."

"I think Takeru had a lot to do with it as well."

"Hm?"

"Well, he's your best friend, ne?"

"Yes."

"And apparently he and Ken have a connection as well." Ryo shrugged. "He was the one who went into the Dark Ocean world after you and brought you back, and he was the first one besides Daisuke to _really accept Ken as one of the Chosen Children, right?"_

"Iori wasn't sure about Ken for a long time," Hikari nodded, "and I guess I wasn't really sure either. Miyako… thought he was cute and was always gushing about how she wanted to marry him, but I don't know if she actually trusted him at first."

Ryo shrugged. "But Daisuke thought everyone deserved a second chance."

"And Takeru was the first to agree."

Hikari leaned her head back against the tree and lapsed into a companionable silence once more. Across from her, Ryo closed his eyes and crossed his arms, and she smiled when she realized that, already, she felt as if she'd known him for as long as she had known the Chosen Children of her own dimension.

There was just something about him…

She shrugged that thought away and turned her head to the side, her gaze resting on Juri. The girl was half-heartedly working on another section of the wall, a few yards away from where Tailmon and the others were. Taichi, as well as Kazu and Kenta were working with her, and, apparently, trying to keep her spirits up.

Despite their joking she didn't crack a smile.

She, with the exception of V-Mon, seemed to be taking Daisuke's death the hardest. Hikari couldn't really be sure as to why, but she assumed they had become close during the time their groups had been separated. 

In fact, she was currently carrying Dai's D3, clipped to the belt-loop of her dress, along with her own D-Power. And, in a pocket (though Hikari didn't know it at the time), she was sporting his D-Terminal as well. She hadn't put them down since gathering them from the grass after Daisuke had been lost…

_Dai must have had an impact on her…_

She looked sad, and every few minutes she paused to glance down at the digivices. 

There was something else, too, which Hikari wondered about – Juri's reaction to Leomon, earlier. She suspected that it had something to do with the other girl's inactive D-Power, but hadn't wanted to intrude and thusly hadn't pressed for information.

As she watched, Juri sighed and slowed. She had been molding mud and clay into the gaps in the stone of the wall, but now she simply stared down at her own hands, thinking about… 

_She could be thinking about anything…_

Finally, when he noticed Juri's condition, Taichi approached and gently suggested that she go and rest. The digimon would be more than happy to supply her with a bed and some privacy, after all.

Hikari suspected that her brother was, kindly, trying to get her out of the way so that he and the others could continue working.

Juri nodded without a word and stood, then walked, with her eyes on the ground, into a grove of trees that grew into the side of the Village, vanishing into the foliage. They were building the wall beyond it, so there was no worry of her being shut out. She probably just wanted to be alone.

But…

Frowning, Hikari thought back. _V-Mon went in there, too._

Right after Takeru and the others had left to rescue Ken, the little blue digimon had disappeared into the trees, and none of them had seen him since. He was just as distraught as Juri, though, at the death of his partner, so they had all decided to leave him be.

Now, she got the feeling, Juri heading in the same direction as V-Mon had was more than just a coincidence. _Why_ she thought that she couldn't decide. She just… knew. Just as she had known about Hyouga, and just as she had instinctively known about other things in her life…    

"Hey! Hey!"

The shout rose up over the din of voices as everyone continued to prepare, and Ryo's eyes opened again as both he and Hikari turned to look back past the tree she had been leaning on. Hyouga's ears flicked and he raised his head a bit, snuffling, and then rested it on his paws to go back to sleep.

_Piximon..?_

The tiny dot of pink resolved into Piximon quickly as the digimon flapped is butterfly wings frantically, waving his arms and shouting to catch everyone's attention; "it's coming! It's coming! The army! The wall must be finished, and quickly!"

Hikari's brows knit. "It's starting…"

She had never seen an all-out war before, despite the many battles she had been involved in, in the past, and all the fighting she had seen between digimon. What was coming now, she knew, would be completely different than all of that. 

There would be death, for one. They had already lost Daisuke, but there was a good chance he wouldn't be the last, and none of them would be reborn at Primary Village as their digimon comrades would… assuming that Primary Village survived the coming battle at all…

A hand came down to rest on her shoulder.

"Everything will work out in the end." Ryo told her, "just trust that it will and you'll be fine."

"How do you know?"

A grin. "You've just got to believe."

The Child of Light looked down. "I want to." She admitted, "but I just don't know…"

"We'll pull through." He insisted, "and when we do, I'll take you out for dinner to celebrate."

She blinked. "What? Like a _date?"_

"Sure, why not?"

For a moment she was speechless. "Uh… okay."

"Great." He winked, "now let's get back to work on that wall so I can keep my promise."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Me: Yup. This chapter had nothing to do with anything, but I figured I should at least pop into Primary Village so everyone can see what's going on there. A few kawaii scenes, so at least it wasn't _totally_ pointless. I'm also now a big advocate for Ryo/Hikari. Just because.

Hikari: Because _why?_

Me: *shrugness* I just think you and Ryo are cute together.

Ryo: You're an odd one, do you know that?

Me: Of course! ^.~ (I also decided that I was going to pick through the characters for the whole Digimon/LoTR thing and put together a few really unique couples. Just to be different. Because, as Ryo pointed out, I'm odd.)

Hikari: Hey, why is Juri going after V-Mon so important? I feel it, but I don't know…

Ryo: Empathy again?

Hikari: Maybe… but why?

Me: Tee hee! =^.^= I'll never tell!


	20. Chapter 20: Jiyu

**Rating:** PG - PG-13

**Warnings:** [language] [violence] [shounen-ai] [het]

**Pairings:** Takeru/Ken, Ruki/Legolas, Daisuke/Juri, Lee/Takato, Ryo/Hikari & Iori/Shuichon

**Notes (for Eevee):** Yup yup. I know it's Lee Jenrya. ^-^ When I started "Digital" I hadn't seen much of the Japanese version of Tamers, though; I knew that some of the characters called him "Lee" and some of them called him "Jen" but I didn't know which did which, you know? ^^;; So basically, everyone in "Digital" calls him "Lee", except for Shuichon, who calls him either "Jenrya" or "Jen". (I was just too lazy to go back and change it once I'd seen more of the Japanese Tamers… ^.^;;)

**Disclaimer: **Don't own New Zealand. Don't own The X-Files _or The X-Men. Don't own Sailor Moon. Don't own Microsoft. Don't own Scott McNeil. *sniffle* lol. And I _certainly_ don't own Digimon or Lord Of The Rings._

**Digital**

**Chapter Twenty: Jiyu (Freedom)**

He had strayed out of conscious thought shortly after the Orcs crushed the bones in the index and middle fingers of his left hand. The world was dark and, through the agony that had become his consciousness, not quite clear anymore.

Can't they just kill me and get it over with?

Not that it was something he expected to happen any time soon; they had been given free reign with him, an Elf, and were having too much fun. Takeru could just imagine the kind of twisted things that were going through their heads.

Truthfully, he hadn't felt what they were doing to him in hours.

The whip struck, the chains clanks, knives nicked his skin and brands seared into his flesh, but though he was, on some level, aware of what they were doing, the pain no longer penetrated his mind.

And he knew that wasn't right, not that he was complaining.

Since the snapping of his fingers he had only managed to drag himself back into the world of the living once, and that was when they had picked Ken up from the corner and dragged the other boy from the room. At the point he had lifted his head and attempted to struggle free of his bonds…

Needless to say he was less than successful, and it had only earned him another stinging lash across his face.

Blood dripped from where they had him chained to the wall, pooling and congealing on the ground beneath his feet.

Takeru wondered vaguely if Gennai would be able to 'fix his data' again, assuming he got out. (Which was beginning to become a remote possibility at best.) He also wondered where they had taken Ken.

Shortly after the bluenette had been removed from the room he thought he had heard screaming coming through the thick stone walls, but in his state he couldn't tell if it was real or just a product of the torture he was undergoing.

_"You told me you would be more careful." Gandalf chided gently._

_"Tried."__ He responded, without raising his eyes or moving his lips._

_"Then how did you find yourself in this position, Child of Hope?"_

_Damn the Wizard. "You told me I needed to get Ken back before Saruman did something to him."_

_He was speaking without speaking. He was seeing Gandalf without opening his eyes._

_"I told you Saruman had taken him." He corrected, "and I will admit that I wished you to stop him before Ken could be hurt-"_

_"But he didn't want you to get your stupid ass caught and tortured to death!" Daisuke interrupted, earning a _Look_ from Gandalf. The redhead made an annoyed gesture with one of his hands. "How did you expect to get Ken out of here if you were chained to a damn wall? Hm?"_

_"Shut up." Takeru responded, "like I wanted this to happen?"_

_Daisuke clasped his hands in front of himself and made puppy eyes at the other boy. "Oh, please Mr. Saruman, sir! I came here all on my own to face your whole army of Orcs and Uruk-hai against the advice of the future King and all of my friends, so please just throw me to the Orcs and let them torture me while my boyfriend is passed out in the corner! Please!"_

_Takeru__ had never glared more venomously in his life as he grated out; "Daisuke. Shut. Up."_

_"Or what?"__ The other boy taunted, "you'll bleed on me?"_

_Finally the blonde raised his head to look at them, his eyes focusing spitefully on his friend and fellow __Chosen_ Child. "You're a bastard, Motomiya."__

_"It got you moving, didn't it?" He looked supremely pleased with himself. "And I may be a bastard, but at least I'm not chained up  in a dungeon, ne? Besides," he added with a wink, "I could probably give your chains a _nudge_, if you catch my drift. But only if you ask nicely…"_

_Gandalf was shaking his head and looking as if he regretted bringing Daisuke with him._

_Takeru__ glared a moment longer. "Daisuke-"_

_"What do you say?" The Child of Courage and Friendship prompted._

"Just do it, you son of a bitch!"

_Daisuke pouted. "Jeez. Have a heart attack, why don't you?" And when Takeru's eyes narrowed even more, he sighed. "Fine, fine. You know Gandalf, I'm very underappreciated around here…"_

_"I can imagine." Gandalf snorted dryly. "Would you be a model of patience, Daisuke, were you in his place?"_

_A grin.__ "I'm always a model of patience. I should have a monument or a temple or something built for it."_

_The Magician rolled his eyes and gestured to Takeru, whose head had dropped down again, his energy spent, and guilt flashed through Daisuke's eyes for a split second as he actually _looked _at the blonde. Bloody and battered, his skin was marred with lashes where the whip had struck. Ugly patterns spread across the side of his chest, having been burned into him by the Orcs, and a circle-based design had been traced along his right arm with what was probably a knife, but could have been any number of sharp implements._

_Biting his lip, Dai flexed his hands nervously. "We can't do anything for him, can we?"_

_"The chains," Gandalf said, "and nothing more.__ You, my friend, are no longer bound to this world and have no physical force here. Even your 'nudging' of the chains will be an entirely mental act."_

_"I was afraid of that." He heaved another sigh, "well, Takaishi-"_

The chains clanked, and Takeru opened his eyes at the noise.

He couldn't have fallen asleep, could he? With what the Orcs were doing to him… impossible. It was, though, _entirely possible that he had passed out. He had done it already, he thought, several times. But he couldn't remember them so he couldn't really be sure._

His head came up slowly, dull pain flaring in his shoulders at the movement, the muscles stretching even more than they had been with his arms bound above his head. He looked toward the corner where Ken had been when he had – ahem – arrived.

Nothing.

Takeru shifted his gaze around the room, and was surprised to discover that he was alone. His captors were gone, possibly having scurried off while he was dreaming… or hallucinating… about dead people.

_The only thing that could make this day worse would be Devimon walking through the door right about now…_

It was his own fault and he knew it. Dream-Daisuke had been right, at least about _that part. Dream-Daisuke was also, he decided, just as obnoxious as Real-Daisuke had been. Why would he dream like that? The obnoxiousness was the part of Dai that he __hadn't liked._

Annoyed, he decided he deserved to have twisted dreams, considering.

He twisted his wrists, which were numb and had been for some time.

_Clank._

The chains shifted, clanking again, and then gave the shriek of metal rubbing against metal before abruptly snapping open. Surprised at the sudden release of his hands, Takeru could do nothing to stop himself from falling, and went straight down toward the stone floor, landing with a muffled _whump_, accompanied by a pained gasp.

Groaning, he cursed his own slow reaction time for a moment, then attempted to raise himself up on his elbows. His shoulders ached at the pressure and it felt as if fire was searing through his veins as the circulation returned to his limbs. Still, gritting his teeth all the while, he forced himself up and propped himself against the wall, half-stretching his legs out in front of him.

Then, having apparently used all of his remaining energy, he had to pause and concentrate on simply _breathing_. While doing so, he managed to dredge up the strength to begin rubbing the feeling back into his hands and wrists.

_Shit… freaking OW!_

He was angry, of course. Partially with himself, partially with Saruman, partially with Dream-Daisuke and partially with the entire world in general. He couldn't really decide which one took priority, but he suspected it was either himself. Well, himself or Dream-Daisuke…

It seemed to take forever but eventually the pain receded, as did the numbness, and he decided it was time for him to try standing up again. His jaw clenched against the pain that shot up his arm from the shattered fingers of his left hand, he pushed himself up, slowly but surely (with help from the wall) getting to his feet.

For a moment, he stared blankly at the chains that had held him.

They continued to dangle from the bolts that held them to the wall of the dungeon, steel gleaming in the light of the torches that were strewn around the room to give the Orcs enough light to work by.

They had suddenly just… opened…

Maybe…

_I'm being ridiculous._ He stopped the thought before it could work its way around to the dreams – hallucinations? – he had just experienced. Instead, he chalked it up to plain good luck and the universe having decided it owed his a break.

Now, he had to go and find Ken.

_Deja fucking vu._ The Child of Hope thought sarcastically as he began a search for something he could use as a weapon and eventually settled on a heavy metal branding iron. _I do believe that's how this entire thing started in the first place…_

He was talking to himself. He knew that. He also knew he was glad he wasn't getting answers. And that was about the only thing he had to _be glad about at that point. That and for the fact that he didn't appear to be freely bleeding any more._

Indeed, the wounds that the Orcs had inflicted on him had stopped bleeding, apparently some time ago, as they were stiff and starting to bruise around the edges. The design that had been cut into his skin stung an insane amount and the chunk of what would in the future be scar-tissue on his chest still burned slightly, but he didn't appear to be in any danger from either of those…

What his biggest issue would be his fingers, he decided, as he shifted the branding iron in his hands and cautiously leaned against the doors to push them open. His left hand was badly enough mangled that he wasn't sure he could effectively use it in a fight. Which meant he was down to just his right hand.

Of course, had he been left-handed to begin with, it would have been an even _bigger problem. As he currently stood, the crushed digits were an inconvenience – albeit a painful one – and nothing more._

_One thing to be thankful of… well, here goes nothing-_

His eyes, Elven that they may be, hadn't picked up anything from the gloom beyond the dungeon doors. In his current condition he hadn't sure if they meant there _wasn't_ anything out there, or if he had just been tortured to the point of being unable to see it… or them… whatever.

For once, luck seemed to be on his side.

When he stepped out into the shadows of the hall he wasn't immediately brained with something hard and dehabilitating, which probably would have not only knocked him out, but also killed him, as he wasn't really up to defending himself yet.

Still, he paused to listen on the off chance there was something lurking, unseen and waiting to grab him from behind.

Nothing.

Takeru allowed himself to breathe again.

Slowly but surely he made his way along the rock corridor, which he had to assume was under the tower of Isengard itself, stopping every few yards both to listen for approaching enemies and to rest, as he was quickly running out of steam again.

He hoped he could make it to an exit before he died of exhaustion or blood loss.

"But first," the blonde chided himself softly, "I need to find Ken so we can _both get out of here…"_

His voice sounded rough, like he'd been eating sandpaper or something similar, and he grimaced at the dryness in his throat. 

_My Kingdom for a glass of water._

The thought was sarcastic, and he knew he had more important things to think about… but the tang of blood on his lips and the gravelly feeling in his mouth were hard to ignore, even given that he was crawling around in Saruman's basement.

_Focus, Takaishi!_

His mind was wandering. He wondered for a split second if he was in shock.

Around a corner. Straight for about twenty meters. Left. Right. Stright. Left.

Stairs.

Takeru was beginning to feel edgy. Damp corridor after damp corridor and he hadn't encountered a _single_ Orc. It was almost as if they had all scuttled out of the dungeon at the same time, even leaving forges running in their haste to escape. It almost reminded him of when the fire alarm rang at his school, when hundreds of students filed out of the building in a single momentous movement, leaving everything behind.

He assumed there were no such thing as fire drills where Saruman was from.

So he stared up the dimly-lit and winding staircase, wondering what Fate awaited him should he decide to chance going up.

Then again, he wasn't going to escape by standing there completely spaced out.

But wasn't he relatively safe? Maybe he should rest a moment. He was barely keeping himself upright, after all…

And give them a chance to come back? Besides, Ken hadn't been in the dungeon. He had checked as he went, and had decided that the Child of Kindness was most likely being held in a higher part of Isengard.

Where? 

He thought maybe with Saruman; likely, the Wizard had wanted to deal with Ken himself after having his minions beat some sense into him…

_Wonderful.__ I'm talking to myself._

Snorting in contempt at his own idiocy, he gripped the branding iron tightly in his good hand and quickly pulled himself up the steps, taking them as quickly and as silently as possible, despite the pain that radiated from every part of him at even the _idea_ of climbing stairs.

At the top, he stopped once more to catch his breath. Somewhere during his ascent into the tower itself he had managed to break open some of the previously closed lash marks that crossed both his back and chest, and blood was already trailing down his skin and soaking into what was left of his already ruined tunic.

He ignored it completely, instead focusing his attention on the platform between staircases. He was exhausted. He was bleeding. He was in pain. But since the next flight of stairs was his destination on his way to finding Ken and getting the hell _out_ of there, he needed to continue upward, despite how much his body was complaining.

Strange as it was, he found himself counting the stairs as he made his way up toward the spires of Isengard (and what was possibly his own death, assuming he came face-to-face with Saruman again). Maybe he just needed something to keep his mind occupied…

Fifty seven…

Eighty three…

A hundred and twenty…

A hundred and ninety five…

He lost count at two hundred and seventy seven, mostly because he just couldn't take the monotony of the numbers droning on and on in his head and banished the counting idea from his thoughts.

_I think I'm going to pass out._

Even the mental counting was draining him, and he fought against an encroaching blackness, clutching the branding iron as if it were a lifeline and staggering to a stop only a few steps from the end of the staircases to lean heavily against the wall.

He breathed deeply, though the smell of the forges below made him grimace, sucking in air and squeezing his eyes shut. He was lightheaded, now. He had overworked himself with the stair-climbing, and his body was (in no uncertain terms) telling him it needed a good long sleep. It was also telling him, apparently, that it intended to get that sleep whether he was a willing participant or not…

_Not yet! Not now! I just have to hold out a little longer and then…_

And then what? He stumbled into Saruman's quarters to threaten the most powerful Wizard in existence with a _branding iron? What was he, stupid or something?_

Shut up.

He was talking to himself again.

Takeru shook his head, forcing the blackness to fade out, though it still lingered at the edge of his consciousness. He had no doubt that, as soon as he allowed exhaustion to win over stubbornness, he would drop like a rock and stay unconscious who knew how long.

It seemed to be a new trend he was developing.

Tch.

The blonde set his jaw determinedly and continued on to the top of the stairs, then paused to stare at the huge set of double doors that awaited him. Him and his branding iron. God, he was an idiot…

_"NO!"_

The single word echoed faintly, muffled by the wall that stood between Takeru and the room in front of him, but it was distinctly recognizable as Ken's voice. The scream that the Child of Kindness uttered was followed by another, wordless shriek, seemingly torn from a raw and tortured throat, and Takeru's lightheadedness fled him immediately as he threw himself forward, slamming into the doors and forcing them open with a high pitched creak which echoed in a piercing harmony with Ken's screams.

The blonde stumbled through the entrance, his legs giving out momentarily under the added pressure of pushing the doors inward, and he tripped on the threshold to land on the floor just inside. 

The branding iron fell from his grasp and skittered across the floor, gone in an instant.

And Saruman smiled as he raised his head to glare in the Wizard's direction. "I see you've made it all the way here by yourself. I must admit, I do admire your tenacity."

Takeru only snarled in response as he attempted to build up the energy to stand. Meanwhile, his eyes were locked on Ken, who was sprawled on the marble floor at Saruman's feet. The bluenette's eyes were squeezed tightly closed and his hands were clenches into fists and pressed against his temples…

"I suppose you wondered about where my soldiers are?" His attention went back to Saruman, and the Wizard waved a hand dismissively, "they are currently on their way to that Village your friends are at…"

___Primary__Village-__?!_

He must have shown a reaction of some kind, though he couldn't be sure what it was. Saruman gave him a half-smirk and then raised both of his hands, brushing aside his robes to get them out of the way.

"Would you care to watch me extract the remainder of the Dark Spore from your friend?"

_Ken!_

Takeru was on his feet instantly, his exhaustion forgotten, and leaped forward-

_WHAM!_

-only to slam into an invisible barrier and bounce painfully backward, colliding with the wall behind him and then falling back down. Blinding pain spiked through his skull and dizziness washed over him for a moment, forcing him to close his eyes.

And he opened them again in time to see Saruman gesture sharply.

Vague shadows formed from the magician's own body, lancing down toward the Child of Kindness, who opened his mouth to scream again – and was silenced when the shadows sprang down his throat, choking him…

"No!" Takeru's own words were no more than a whisper…

Ken writhed, screaming silently.

"Stop!"

His back arched and his fingers spasmed.

_"Stop it!"_

He clawed at his throat, gasping to breath.

_"STOP IT!"_

This time, Takeru's shout wasn't silent, and echoed through the room, reverberating off the walls and making Saruman jerk his attention toward the blonde. His eyes widened in surprise when a strong light flashed-

The Child of Hope, somehow, had managed to dredge up enough energy to activate his Crest.

Takeru pushed himself to his feet, livid and growling angrily under his breath, and stepped forward. 

This time, when his body came into contact with the invisible wall Saruman had set in place, the barrier crumbled with an almost silent hiss, like water against flame, and he stepped through with no trouble whatsoever.

The Wizard stifled a gasp and the shadows withdrew from Ken, leaving the blue-haired boy limp on the floor.

Takeru's eyes trained on him for a moment, then movement made him turn toward Saruman, who was raising his hands again and reaching for his staff. And despite his anger, the blonde knew he was no match for Saruman if he had his staff…

_Fine._

Without a moment's thought he jumped forward, skidding to a stop beside Ken, grabbed the other boy, and headed for the nearest exit, which happened to be a balcony. He wasn't sure what he was going to do, but he was to get outside and away from-

He set Ken down once he was out on the balcony itself and quickly shut and bolted the doors; he was running on adrenaline now, and the light from the Crest of Hope had faded to a dull glow, which throbbed along with his racing heartbeat. 

A blow connected with the other side of the door, and Takeru stepped back.

_Now what-?_

Now he had Ken (who was still unconscious), and had (sort of) managed to escape. Except he had escaped to the balcony of Saruman's private chambers. And while it was _technically_ outside of the tower, it was also at least forty stories off the ground…

"_Takeru_-!"

"What-?" Spinning, he searched the horizon frantically until his eyes landed on the source of the familiar voice. He could barely contain a hysterical giggle of relief, and he waved an arm, ignoring the searing pain that came with the motion; "Angemon!"

The digimon was only a dot in the distance, but was rapidly growing-

_WHAM!_

Another blow and this time and wood creaked, splinters flying outward from the already cracking doors. The blonde's attention jerked from Angemon to the door and back, and though his mind was clambering with questions, he was too happy to see his partner to bother with most of them.

_WHAM!_

_Shit! We have to get off of this balcony!_

Angemon was still a way off…

…but not that far.

He made a decision, trusting his long-time friend with not only his life but Ken's, and, picking the Child of Kindness up again, he stepped up onto the railing and took a deep breath. Angemon looked confused for a moment, but Takeru met his gaze and nodded, and the digimon noddedin return.

He jumped-

_WHAM!_

Behind him, the doors few open, chunks of wood showering around him as he fell, still holding tightly to Ken-

-and was scooped up by Angemon before he could reach the ground.

His heart was in his throat as the digimon wheeled in midair and took off away from Isengard as fast as his wings could take him. Takeru turned around long enough to see Saruman standing on the balcony, his eyes cold and angry, before turning his attention to Ken, who was slumped limply in Angemon's grasp.

He decided not to tell the bluenette about their little fall…

_It's just another thing he doesn't need to worry about._

"Takeru, are you alright?"

The blonde nodded vaguely, despite the blackness that was invading his vision again. "Yeah…"

And he passed out.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Me: Yay. ^^;; I really don't have much to say about this chapter…

Takeru: It's a freaking miracle.

Me: -_-;; … anyway, I'll share my good news with you all, then! =^.^= I'm now officially playing both Ruki Makino _and_ Renamon for FETKun's Digimon Fandubs. ^^ We're dubbing the 6th movie, Runaway Digimon Express, next. I'm excited!

Ruki: I'm disturbed.

Renamon: I'm worried.

Me: Daijobu yo! *jumps up and down* I'll do you both justice, I swear! ^^


	21. Chapter 21: Torimodoshu

**Rating:** PG - PG-13

**Warnings:** [violence] [language] [het] [shounen-ai]

**Pairings:** Takeru/Ken, Legolas/Ruki, Daisuke/Juri, Lee/Takato, Ryo/Hikari & Iori/Shuichon

**Notes:** I wanted to say this, as people have been asking me about it… I apologize, but I have no say over when Tarnished Wings is updated, as it's run by Meimi and Ajora. ^.^;; I know that finding stories at FF.Net can sometimes be hard, if you don't have them bookmarked. So my advice is to either bookmark it, or bookmark the official website that I run, Digital Mirkwood: the link to it is on my profile page.

Also, gomen gomen! A long wait between this chapter and the last one! Sorry, but quite a few things went down in my life, and just about the time they were clearing up my computer crashed. -_-;; Hopefully (barring a catastrophe) I'll be updating regularly again.

**Dedication:** Apple From Mars! I can't believe I didn't dedicate the _last chapter to you! O.o;;_

**Disclaimer:** If I owned either Digimon or Lord Of The Rings I'd… well, I'd probably still be writing fanfiction and drooling over Orlando Bloom. And the ending of Digimon 02 would be _completely_ re-written. But I don't own them, so all I can do is… uh… write fanfiction and drool over Orlando Bloom. ^^;; Yeah.

**Digital**

**Chapter Twenty-One: Torimodoshu (Restoration)**

_"Well, you managed it." Daisuke snorted, sounding as if he wasn't sure if he should be pleased or amazed. "But I can't imagine how. You know, Takeru, sometimes you are just a fucking moron."_

_"Uh-huh." Takeru replied dryly, "says he who got himself shot and killed."_

_"For your information," Dai retorted, narrowing his eyes, "I did it to save Ken. You should be thanking me."_

_"Yeah, right."___

_"You know, you really need an attitude adjustment, considering you wouldn't have gotten out of those chains at all if I hadn't-"_

_"Daisuke."__ Gandalf interrupted, before the boy could finish his sentence and the two of them could get into a further argument, which was looking more and more like the prelude to an all-out fist fight. Interposing himself between them, he sighed. "Stop that. He's tired and injured, and provoking him will only drain what kittle energy he has left."_

_"Hey!" Takeru had never snapped at Gandalf, and normally wouldn't have even considered it. "I'm fine!"_

_The Wizard raised an eyebrow. "Of course…"_

_"Huh." Crossing his arms, Takeru turned to survey Ken, who was laid out on the bed. "Is he going to be okay, Gandalf?"_

_"Perhaps.__ He will need you before he is whole again, though, Child of Hope."_

_"Why-?"___

_"What Saruman did…" A short hesitation as Gandalf considered his next words; "having the Dark Spore forcibly removed from Ken… was akin to a mental rape. His mind is very unstable right now, and you must not forget that he was also subjected to what he thought was the Digimon Kaiser personality. He will be confused, hurting and frightened when he wakes," his lips thinned in concern, "and he may even lash out – it is a natural reaction, of course, but… Takeru, I believe you would be the best one to help him through the coming hardships."_

_During Gandalf's explanation, the blonde had completely forgotten his annoyance with Daisuke. Similarly, Dai was looking about as worried as he ever had – but since Ken was his best friend, it was understandable. Takeru tapped a finger against his arm and sighed. "I don't know if I'm strong enough to handle both his pain and my own."_

_"Like hell." Dai snorted, earning a sharp look from Gandalf._

_"You are stronger than you imagine, Takeru." He told him, with the same aggravatingly cryptic tone the Child of Hope had learned to live with months ago, "and your strength will be direly needed in the coming days…"_

_Takeru blinked, then narrowed his eyes in the Wizard's direction, "you're not just talking about Ken, are you-"_

Blue eyes opened painfully slowly, and the first thing that he experienced was pain. Not the same kind of pain he'd been dealing with the _last time he was awake, thankfully, but pain nonetheless. Takeru allowed a soft groan as he turned his head and attempted to remember what he'd been dreaming about… Gandalf again? He couldn't recall for sure. Was that what he had _just_ been dreaming, or echoes of a previous dream?_

_I should just go back to sleep._

Instead, he raised a hand and allowed it to rest on his forehead for a moment before gritting his teeth and forcing himself to sit, despite the racing pain in his sides. A quick tally told him that he'd been healed again, though definitely not as well as Gennai's previous attempt – scarring was obvious down his arm and side, and most of his body appeared to be one huge bruise.

_Ow.__ Shit._

The room was empty, save for himself and Ken, and the curtains had been drawn so the light was minimal. He remembered the room… the same one Ruki had occupied the last time he'd been at Gennai's, only with a temporary cot-like bed added. That was what he was sitting on, and next to him Ken was laid out on the actual bed. The Child of Kindness was still out cold – either sleeping or unconscious – and looking as if he was on the verge of tears, despite not being awake.

Takeru's brows furrowed, and he shoved himself off the cot and onto his feet with a painful hiss. His clothing was draped across a chair near the door. Or, a new set of clothing was – his original clothes had been destroyed, so they couldn't have been worn again. The new clothing was… scarily similar to Gennai's own outfit. In fact, it probably _was_ one of his outfits. Where else would they find something for him to wear? He made a mental note to thank Gennai when he saw him next.

Well, they were _comfortable clothes, at least… and they were only one layer thick, unlike the Elven outfits he was used to. Loose pants in a dark shade of brown, and a matching sleeveless turtleneck, and while brown wasn't his favorite color he wasn't about to complain._

He decided to forgo the beige robe. It was something he'd never seen Gennai without, but he just didn't feel up to dealing with it right then. Instead he struggled his way into his boots (which were next to the door, and were _his boots instead of a borrowed pair) and then stepped out into the hallway after another quick glance at Ken._

 The corridor wasn't long, but it seemed to take forever, and halfway down it he considered going back and sleeping for another week or so. His muscles ached, his chest still stung, and the remains of the circle-design in his right arm itched. A lot. 

Voices drifted from the main part of the house. He could recognize them, but he couldn't catch exactly what they were saying; Ruki sounded angry, of course, and Legolas seemed to be attempting to calm her. Aragorn's voice was low and contemplative. Gennai was asking questions. And he could hear giggling, which he assumed came from Patamon and the other digimon, save for Renamon.

Reaching the end of the hall, Takeru leaned against the wall to catch his breath and watched silently as his comrades had a discussion that seemed to be bordering on an argument. Ruki was ranting as per usual, pacing back and forth beside the window and casting glares out toward Isengard, with Legolas playing the part of her voice of reason. The Elf was also half-explaining something to Gennai, with Gimli interjecting comments here and there. At the table, which sat in the center of the room, Aragorn was conversing with Renamon, with Takato paying close attention, and Patamon was joking around with Guilmon while Wormmon watched sadly from nearby. The insect-like digimon was probably worrying himself sick.

Takeru cleared his throat, and everyone stopped abruptly.

Gimli's eyebrows shot upward, "you're up already, lad!"

"Barely," Gennai observed, "Takeru, you're clutching that wall for dear life-" standing, he made as if to head over, but the blonde waved him off and walked to the table himself, then dropped into a chair. "How do you feel?"

"A little off." Takeru shrugged, "thanks for the clothes."

"Well I could hardly leave you in what you _had_." A half-grin, "they were barely more than rags."

"Well, torture will do that to you."

Silence followed that pathetic attempt at a joke, until Ruki stabbed a finger in his direction and snapped; "your brother's right, you _are_ a fucking moron!"

Somehow, her attitude made him want to grin. Maybe because of what he had just been though, but the Tamer's statement just didn't rub him the wrong way – as it undoubtedly would have otherwise. He didn't say anything for a moment, and Ruki glared at him the entire time. Legolas was giving her 'please don't start' looks, which she was effectively ignoring.

She must have noticed him attempting not to break into a childish giggling fit, for a flash of annoyance crossed her features seconds before he lost the fight and began to snicker. Seated next to him, Aragorn jumped in surprise and stared at him as if he had grown another head. 

_I think it's fair to say everyone thinks I've gone insane._

After a moment he managed to get himself under control again, and sighed as he leaned back into the chair and closed his eyes. "Sorry, it's just… I needed to laugh. Hard to explain, I guess. And yes, Ruki, sometimes I can be an idiot."

"I didn't _say you were an __idiot. I _said_ you're a fucking moron." The girl replied icily._

"Ruki." Renamon chided vaguely.

"Well he is." Ruki spat, and crossed her arms. "You dumbass, Aragorn told you to stay here!"

Takeru gave a lopsided smile, "now you know how well I listen."

"You goddamn _don't!"_

"What?"

She snorted, "and you're deaf."

"Exactly." The blonde agreed, and looked around the room for backup – then cleared his throat nervously when it was apparent none was coming. "So… I guess I really upset all of you when I ran off."

"You might say that." Aragorn commented.

And Gennai raised an eyebrow, "not that we didn't know where you'd gone; we were brainstorming how to get you out when Patamon told us something was wrong. A feeling he was getting or something – probably because he's your partner." The man waved a hand toward Patamon, "and we had no way of getting to you."

"Eventually Patamon freaked out," Takato supplied then, "and just took off."

"You are lucky," the Ranger said gravely, "that he was able to get to you in time."

He didn't have to say it twice – Takeru was more than aware of how close he'd come to his own death. But… he would probably have done it again, if he'd had to. At least, he decided, he'd managed to get Ken out with him…

"You fixed me up again?" It wasn't really a question, but more of a statement, and it was directed toward Gennai, "the same as before, I'm assuming, except it doesn't feel like it worked as well."

"Hm," the guardian nodded, "well, it's much the same as a floppy disc, Takeru – I can restore your data, but the more it's purged and repaired the less it works. You can only reuse and restore a floppy disc so many times after it's been damaged…" he nodded in the blonde's direction, "next time it will work even less than this time, and the time after that even less, and so on until the program does you no good at all."

"Wonderful." 

"So, may I suggest _not getting yourself that badly hurt anymore?"_

_Easier said than done._ Takeru thought sarcastically, but nodded, "sure, I'll try."

An abrupt but not unfamiliar weight dropping onto his head made him look upward then, and Patamon peered down at him through his hair. He didn't say anything, but the look on his face conveyed very clearly his thoughts about what his partner had done… the Child of Hope winced internally and made a mental note to apologize to the digimon the next time they were alone.

On his head, Patamon sighed, "how's Ken doing?"

His words made everyone look toward the hallway, and Gennai hesitated. "He's… in a different state than Takeru was when you brought them back here, Patamon."

Brows furrowed all around, and Renamon asked; "how so?"

"His catatonia seems to be self-inflicted." Gennai explained, "he wasn't all that badly hurt physically, so I healed him easily enough – but he seems unwilling to regain consciousness. There's no other reason why he isn't awake…"

"Saruman took the Dark Spore from him."

Gennai jumped, "_what?"_

"He took the Dark Spore," Takeru repeated, "forcefully."

"How do you-?"

"I was there. I saw it happen."

"But, it should have-!"

"Killed him, I know." The Chosen Child nodded, "but it didn't." He chose not to mention the Digimon Kaiser incident that Saruman had forced on Ken as he continued; "he's… in a lot of pain, even if he doesn't look like he is."

Legolas sounded concerned when he asked, "is there anything we can do?"

He was hesitant to respond, and pursed his lips thoughtfully. "I… don't know."

And that was that. He really _didn't_ know, though there was something nagging at the back of his mind – about his own strength being needed to help Ken though the darkness – or something. He couldn't really remember, and the fog that seemed to have drifted into his thoughts was beginning to annoy him; he needed to rest still, and he knew it, and from the look on Ruki's face he wasn't going to manage it until she was good and finished with yelling at him…

"I'd still like to know," she said slowly, "what in the hell you thought you were doing."

Takeru shook his head and pushed himself to his feet again, using the table as leverage, "getting Ken back." He told her flatly, in a tone that left no room for arguments. "And I did it, so shut up and leave me alone. I already admitted it was stupid of me, what more do you want?"

She said nothing.

Good.

"Gennai, I need to borrow your couch… or something else where I can sit and be comfortable." He mentally added _'and alone'_ but didn't vocalize the thought. The others were worried about him, and he knew it, and he didn't blame them. "If you don't mind, I mean."

"What? No, of course I don't mi-"

_Wham!_

The door slammed open, making the entire house rattle. A picture frame fell from the wall and landed on the floor with a crash. Everyone jumped. Patamon and Guilmon uttered surprised squeaks and Patamon fluttered off of Takeru's head to hover in the air beside him.

Wormmon was the first one to find the strength to speak; "Ken?"

The blue-haired boy stood in the doorway to the lone bedroom, one hand on either side of the frame, head down and eyes narrowed as he surveyed the room in front of him… uneasiness welled up inside of Takeru, and he took a step toward the Child of Kindness – then paused when an unexpected sound tore itself from Ken's throat.

_Laughter…_

Ken had begun to laugh, softly, but it was true.

A pin would have sounded like a freight train in the deathly silence of the house, and the giggles rose a bit in volume before stopping all together… Ken smirked and straightened, dropping his arms to his sides, and sharp eyes finally focused on Takeru, who found his heart in his throat and that he was having trouble breathing.

He knew that look. He knew that laughter. He knew-

"My, this is a cozy site." The Digimon Kaiser chuckled, condescending as he ever had been, "I almost expected hot chocolate and a roaring fire."

_Shit.__ Shit, shit!_

The Kaiser flexed his fingers and started toward Takeru, eyes never leaving the horrified blonde. "You're the one who _rescued_ us… Takeru Takaishi. Because you think you have some kind of pathetic _feelings_ for Ken, of course. But you did manage it, against all odds." A pause and he snickered to himself, "I almost expected you to die as easily as that idiot Daisuke."

"You…" Ruki's voice growled from behind him, and Takeru blinked in surprise and glanced back for a split second – enough time to see Legolas lay a restraining hand on the orange-haired Tamer's shoulder.

"And what would you do, Ruki Makino?" The Kaiser asked, amused and mocking, "you couldn't do anything for Motomiya… or for Boromir, for that matter. Or for anyone. You talk tough, but you're really just a school girl."

He needed to do something before Ruki decided to take the matter into her own hands. Despite how his muscles still ached, Takeru walked forward – the Kaiser's attention returned to him, and he was _graced_ with a sadistic smile. Despite how the look in Ken's eyes made him shiver, he only stopped when he was a foot away. "Ken-"

The Kaiser slapped him.

The movement was so fast he didn't see it coming, and before he could react his head snapped to the side, his neck wrenching painfully. His cheek stung – it hurt like hell! – and he worked his jaw as he slowly faced forward again. 

"Do _not." The Kaiser growled lowly, "call me by that name."_

The Child of Hope raised a hand to rub his face and tried again; "Ken, listen to m-"

His sentence was cut off as, again, the other boy slapped his harshly, this time with the back of his hand. An angry noise rose in Takeru's throat and his expression has hardened when he again turned toward Ken, who raised his hand to strike him a third time-

-and the blonde grabbed his wrist, spun him around, and shoved him as hard as he could (which wasn't all that hard given how much he was hurting), then followed the stumbling "Kaiser" down the hallway. Before the bluenette could catch his balance, Takeru latched onto the back of his shirt and violently shoved him again – this time back into the bedroom – and followed, slamming the door behind himself.

Muffled by the door, he could hear Gimli's exclamation of; "what in the hell just happened here?!" before he turned his attention back to Ken, who was glaring at him with the Digimon Kaiser's eyes from across the room.

"Who do you think you are?!" He spat, his hands clenching into fists.

"You stupid bastard!" Takeru snapped, making him scowl, "_what_ do you think you're doing?"

"How _dare you talk to me like-"_

The Child of Hope was across the room faster than even he thought was possible, and he grabbed Ken's arms, smacking him up against the wall, before the Kaiser could say anything else.

He didn't know if he was more upset with Ken or himself, but rage was scratching at him and he wasn't about to let his friend – though he was that and much, much more – torture both of them with delusions that had been brought on by Saruman. His teeth were gritting together as he stared at the other boy from only a few centimeters away, and the Kaiser seemed to be at war with himself… or with Ken… as confusion and anger warred in the familiar features.

"You think you can talk to me like I'm… like I'm _common_?!" He was nearly shouting, "how dare you! Take your hands off of me before I'm forced to-"

"Ken!" Takeru tightened his grip on his arms and shook him, "would you fucking _get over it?! I know what Saruman did hurt you, okay, but… shit! __Think about this, damn it! Just __think! The Dark Spore is gone now, so why in the hell would the Kaiser have come back?! Explain that to me!" A hint of fear was coloring Ken's eyes now, and Takeru made a frustrated noise, "the entire fucking Kaiser thing happened _because_ of the Dark Spore! You know that, I know that… __everybody knows that! So snap out of it before I have to hurt you!"_

"…" he seemed to be struggling with something, and then the Kaiser righted himself again; "let go of me, Takaishi!"

_Shit._

"If you don't release me, I'll-"

Takeru kissed him.

It wasn't planned. Hell, it was the farthest thing from either of their minds – but somehow it happened, and with Ken pinned to the wall there wasn't much the Kaiser could do to stop it. After a second, the blonde broke away but didn't let him go. "Wake up, Ken. We've got more important things to do than fight amongst ourselves right now." His voice was barely a whisper. "Our friends need us… we have to get back to Primary Village."

A soft whimper escaped from the Child of Kindness.

"I know you're hurting." Takeru continued, "I _know_ – I know that… even though you didn't want the Dark Spore inside you, having it ripped out like that… it hurt like hell, and left you… _in agony, I'm sure. But this is no way to deal with it." He took a deep breath. Ken's eyes had closed, and pain was showing in his face. "The Kaiser is _dead_, Ken. Dead. Before, at Isengard… that wasn't you… wasn't the Kaiser. Ken, that was Saruman, and if I ever get my hands on him…"_

He trailed off, and relaxed his hold on the other boy, stepping back.

Ken stayed where he was, taking shuddering breath after shuddering breath-

-and then his voice-

-barely audible at all-

"I can't do this."

"Of course you can."

"I'm not strong enough."

"You're plenty strong." The Child of Hope didn't move to comfort him, and Ken's eyes cracked open once more – _Ken's_ eyes, with no hint of the Kaiser. "You wouldn't be here if you weren't, and neither would I."

Another whimper, and the bluenette slid down the wall and wrapped his arms around his legs, resting his forehead on his knees. His voice was muffled; "Takeru, he just… went into my head…"

"I know." Two steps and he sat down next to Ken, but didn't touch him. "I know."

_"The healing begins." Gandalf nodded approvingly, and Daisuke peered over his shoulder._

_"Please." Daisuke groaned, "they're drowning me in sap, here."_

_The Wizard chuckled, and rapped his staff lightly against the top of Dai's head; he was in too good a mood for the redhead to change that. Ken would be fine – the Kaiser was a sort of self-defense, apparently, but Takeru had gotten through to him. And though Gennai's program hadn't restored Takeru to his previous state, he was well enough to be up and around._

_To fight.___

_"They will be alright for now," he said, mostly to himself, "but soon they will have to fight again."_

_Daisuke's interest perked. "At __Primary__ _Village__, right?"____

_"Yes, Daisuke.__ They are needed there, for the battle to come… that is something I tried to convey to Takeru, and can only hope he understood." Frowning now, Gandalf turned his eyes back to Takeru and Ken, who were silent as the Child of Kindness sorted things out in his head. "If they do not arrive in time, all will be lost."_

_"All..?"_

_"Yes." Gandalf nodded gravely, "the battle for __Primary__Village__… will decide the Fate of not only the Digital World, but mine and yours as well."_

~*~*~*~*~*~

Me: So… I had a bit of a BRICK WALL there for a while. T'wasn't all my fault though.

Patamon: But we're back into the updating now, right?

Me: =^-^= Right! …well, I don't know if I like this chapter or not. Sometimes, one just comes out that I find mediocre. :p Mar. This one is probably less than stellar because it's the only chapter left to do that I didn't have completely planned out before I started writing. ^^;;

Takato: And our lesson for today is?

Me: O.o;; Don't cut corners in your fanfiction?

Takato: *patpat*

Me: Ooh! We finished that dub of Runaway Digimon express! ^_^ Yay! I played Ruki Makino, Rumiko Makino, Juri Katou, Megumi Onodera, Reika Ohtori and the Train Station Announcer! (I was going to play Renamon, but Vashkoda ended up playing her instead. XD) Anyway, I'll post a link to FETkun's site in my profile for any of you who might want to download it – it's in .rm format, so you nead RealPlayer to watch it.


	22. XMas Extra: Shizuka na Yoru

**Rating:** PG - PG-13 

**Warning:** [violence] [language] [het] [shounen-ai]

**Pairings:** Takeru/Ken, Legolas/Ruki, Daisuke/Juri, Lee/Takato, Ryo/Hikari & Iori/Shuichon

**Notes:** I've been neglecting Digital lately.... *bows* Gomen ne? So I decided to write a little Christmas fic as a sort of apology. ^_~ It sort-of takes place during Digital, but it doesn't actually happen right after Takeru rescues Ken.

I was going to title it "Silent Night" but since all of Digital's chapters are named in Japanese, I decided to try that. I don't know if I managed it or not, but "Shizuka na Yoru" is as close as I could come without someone helping me. ^^;; Eheh...

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Digimon. I don't own Lord Of The Rings. I also weep. lol.

**Shizuka na Yoru**

There wasn't much for them to do, despite it being the time of year for celebration. To be perfectly blunt, there wasn't much to _celebrate_...

"The phones aren't working either." Ken said. 

Takeru sat facing the television, but without the device actually turned on. There wasn't anything to watch, anyway, except for the static of interrupted transmissions—because of Saruman, no doubt. If there was anyone on the Earth besides themselves at _all, chances were the White Wizard was blocking out communications._

A long moment after Ken's announcement, the blonde finally responded; "who would we want to call, anyway? Everyone's here already."

"Except... for Daisuke." Juri's voice sounded softly from her seat at the kitchen table.

_Except for Daisuke..._ Takeru amended his statement mentally, his eyes flicking toward the girl and then back to the black television screen.

How long had they been waiting, holed up in the apartment he shared with Ken and Yamato? It seemed like weeks, but, logically, had only been a day or so. So much for "we'll be right back"... when Aragorn and Gimli finally arrived from their scouting, he was going to kill them. If he didn't go stir-crazy first.

And he wasn't the only one who felt that way, either. From the looks of it, Ruki was about to snap as well—not that he blamed her. The apartment was only meant for three or four people to live in, and even with the Ranger and Gimli gone, and with Renamon coming and going as if on a whim, they were more than a little crowded.

"I should have gone with them."

Ken shook his head, "Aragorn and Gimli can take care of themselves."

"Yeah, yeah." Takeru pushed himself off the couch and paced restlessly over to the kitchen, where Kazu was digging through the refrigerator in the hopes of finding something edible. The Child of Hope paid no attention to his mutterings, eyes drifting to the calendar that was pinned to the wall just inside the doorway.

It had been a so long since Saruman began to merge the worlds that he'd lost track of the days—and forgotten it was December. But the circle that was scrawled around the twenty-fifth day of the month reminded him. He blinked slowly as Kazu continued to talk to himself only a few feet away.

"Christmas..?"

"In three days." Ken told him, coming around the corner. "It seems strange, doesn't it?"

It did. It was. How could so much time have passed?

"He's even ruined Christmas."

"Saruman?"

"Yes."

A hand touched his shoulder. "He can't ever do that, Takeru."

Maybe...

**~*~*~*~*~**

None of the television channels worked, but since they (strangely) still had electricity (as well as running water and heat), Kazu and Kenta had very quickly usurped the video game system that Yamato had been lugging around since he was twelve, and had gleefully introduced Merry and Pippin to the world of _Street Fighter._

Ruki made occasional sarcastic comments from the sidelines, but had managed to—for the most part—occupy herself with going over maps of the area with Legolas, Frodo, Sam and Lee. Takeru had been with them for a while... but found his attention drifting after only a few minutes, and had left.

Juri continued to sit at the kitchen table and stare off into space rather listlessly, and he considered asking if she was alright... and then decided against it. Miyako and Terriermon were teaching Iori and Shuichon how to play poker. No one even stopped to wonder where _Terriermon _had learned the game in the first place.

Guilmon had curled up in a corner of the living room and gone to sleep immediately—and his Tamer had followed the example, falling asleep on the couch relatively soon after. Hikari and Ryo had slipped out of the apartment nearly an hour earlier, Hikari saying she needed to go retrieve some things from her own house, and Ryo offering to go with her.

Takeru couldn't think of anything she could possibly need badly enough to risk wandering around with Orcs and Uruk-Hai loose in Tokyo, but Ryo had brought Monodramon along... and he didn't doubt the other boy's strength, even for a second. If anyone could protect his best friend, it was Ryo Akiyama.

Now, the blonde stood by the glass doors that lead to the balcony, staring out at the light dusting of snow that covered everything in sight. He wasn't thinking about anything in particular... just life in general, and what had happened since he and Ken's first trip into Middle Earth, courtesy of Gandalf the Grey.

"When did it start snowing?"

He looked at Ken for a moment, and then turned back toward the window. "I don't know... a while ago, I guess."

"Looks like." Ken peered out, squinting into the moonlit night, and sighed. "I think I hate being cooped up like this."

Takeru chuckled, "at least we have heat." He pointed out; "and lights. Think about Aragorn and Gimli out there."

"Bet they're _cold!" Terriermon piped up._

After that impulsive statement, he immediately returned to his impromptu poker game, and everyone else simply ignored him—with the exception of Lee, who shook his head in mock sorrow before returning his attention to the maps Ruki had laid out for them to study.

Takeru _hmmed_ thoughtfully. _The furball's right..._

The front door opened. 

The Child of Hope tensed immediately—and noted that Legolas and Ruki did the same—and everyone looked toward the door to see Hikari step in from outside, carrying a cardboard box and with Ryo and Monodramon close behind her.

_Well, there's three less people we have to worry about._

**~*~*~*~*~**

"What's in the box?"

Hikari smiled vaguely, and set aforementioned cardboard container on the ground at her feet, then proceeded to remove her shoes and coat before responding to Miyako's question. The bespectacled girl raised an eyebrow in annoyance—and curiously enough, Ruki had to hide a smirk. Apparently she found something funny.

Behind Hikari, Ryo pulled his own coat off (it was one he'd borrowed from Yamato's closet), and Monodramon wandered into the apartment to poke at Guilmon, who muttered something in his sleep and promptly continued snoring obliviously.

"Well?" Miyako demanded when Hikari finally picked her box up again, and walked over to set it on the coffee table, interrupting the poker game, and at the same time making Kazu look up from his video game just in time to be K.O.ed.

The brunette smiled again, and pushed the box toward her friend. "See for yourself."

Blinking, Miyako gave her a suspicious look—and then reached tentatively and opened the top flaps, peering inside—

"Christmas decorations?"

"Of course." Hikari responded. 

Taking the box back from Miyako she proceeded to pull a handful of gold and silver garlands out, and handed them to the nearest person. This happened to be Pippin, who had come over to take a look—and who now blinked blankly at the armload of shining metallic... _things_... he had no idea what to do with.

"Uh... Hikari..." Miyako gave a half-grin, "do you really think this is the time for—"

"Yes." The Child of Light interrupted, and her brows furrowed as sorrow flashed in her eyes. "Daisuke would have wanted them. He always liked Christmas."

Silence.

All activity in the apartment came to a halt, and even Ruki turned her eyes downward for a split second. From her seat, Juri made a soft noise that was akin to a whimper... and then sniffed twice and stood up. 

"Juri..?"

She looked around.

And smiled for the first time since Daisuke had been lost.

"Well," she said brightly, with a wavering tone to her voice, "it won't feel like Christmas without decorations, will it? Let's put them up right now... and Takato and I can make something for Christmas dinner, too."

On the couch, Takato stirred at the mention of his name and yawned before blinking blearily at Juri; "what was that about Takato being dinner..?"

**~*~*~*~*~**

 Obviously, Hikari hadn't fit an entire Christmas tree in the single cardboard box she had brought from her place. And neither Takeru nor Yamato had ever thought to purchase a fake one, which could have been stored somewhere and used when the occasion called for it—so there was no actual Christmas _tree_, but they did the best they could with what they had.

A few garlands for edging here and there, and a wreath for the door. Two dozen Christmas ornaments were hung from the curtains—lamps—ceiling fan—anywhere they would fit, and, true to her word, Juri dragged Takato into the kitchen to tinker around and make something for supper.

Guilmon once again tried to help—and only got coated in flour for his trouble.

The entire concept of "Christmas" was new to the Hobbits, as well as Legolas. It wasn't something they celebrated in Middle Earth... so much explaining had been done as each decoration went up, and each answer that was provided to their questions only spawned more of them...

"There!" Kenta proclaimed as he hung the last glass ball from the leaves of the only plant in the apartment—a spider plant that Takeru and Yamato's mother had gifted to them as a house-warming present. It sagged under the weight of the single ornament, but Kenta was pleased none the less; "we're done!"

"Not quite." Hikari was frowning, and looking for something in the now-empty box.

"What?" Iori asked.

The girl frowned. "There was mistletoe in here. I was sure there was..."

Legolas cleared his throat; "might this be what you are looking for?" He had plucked the leafy decoration from the floor beside the couch, and held it with a puzzled expression on his face. "I fear I do not see why you would need this..."

"It's _mistletoe." Was Hikari's response, as if the answer were obvious._

When the Elf continued to look confused, Shuichon offered a brief explanation; "its tradition, you know! You hang it in the doorway, and then whenever someone walks underneath it and you notice, you have to kiss them!" Pausing, she added, "of course, it works if you're holding on to it, too... hey, Ruki—that means you can kiss Legolas right now and have a reason for it." She was young, but not so young as to be completely innocent. Her eyes sparkled mischievously. "Right, Jen?"

Lee coughed. "I... don't know about that, Shuichon..."

Though he didn't look any less confused, Legolas forced a patient smile and set the mistletoe on the nearest table, looking distinctly embarrassed. Ruki, meanwhile, glared daggers at the back of Shuichon's head, eyes narrowed dangerously.

Giggling, Hikari nicked the leaves and quickly tacked them up in the kitchen doorway, with the help of a chair for height. "_Now_ we're done."

Takeru couldn't help grinning.

Okay, so he'd been a bit skeptical when she had first proclaimed that they were going to decorate for Christmas—but now, he looked around and decided that it had been a good idea. Despite the white tint to Guilmon's skin, and Legolas' embarrassed expression, everyone was in a good mood... the happiest they'd been in a long time.

A yelp from the kitchen brought him out of his thoughts.

Juri's head poked around the doorway, and she explained; "Takato smacked his head on one of the fridge shelves."

Laughter followed.

How good it felt to laugh...

**~*~*~*~*~**

They had soup and home-made biscuits for dinner, and they polished off an entire box of chocolate chip cookies for desert. That finished, Frodo and Sam offered to clean the dishes, and vanished into the kitchen to do it.

Guilmon, Monodramon and Terriermon promptly flopped in a digimon heap and went to sleep—Miyako, Iori and Shuichon picked up their poker game where it had left off, only this time Lee and Takato joined them.

Kazu, Kenta, Merry and Pippin were once again caught up in beating the crap out of each other—technologically speaking, of course.

Ruki and Legolas continued to look over maps of Tokyo.

Juri sat and read a book—which she had pilfered from Takeru's shelves—in silence.

And Takeru and Ken once again stood by the balcony, gazing outside at the starlight night and the empty, snow-covered city. This time, however, the Child of Hope wasn't brooding. He was simply enjoying the moment.

"Well?" Ken asked.

Takeru's eyebrows rose. "Well, what?"

"What do you think?"

"About..?"

"This. Tonight."

"It feels... like the holidays."

The other boy smiled. "I told you Saruman couldn't ruin Christmas."

Takeru laughed. "Okay, you were right."

"I always am."

About that time, the front door banged open again—

—and Aragorn and Gimli came in, the Ranger shutting the door firmly behind himself. They both turned to continue on—and then paused, staring blankly at the decorations that had sprouted up in their absence, and the pleasant scene that lay before them.

Aragorn shook his head. "I must take it that we have missed something..."

**The End**

Me, Chosen, Tamers & Digimon: MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Aragorn: What is 'Christmas'?

Legolas: It is best for you not to ask...


End file.
